


Living is a Curse

by TheBrothersRowe



Category: The Dark Pictures: Little Hope (Video Game), The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan (Video Game)
Genre: Based on a theory I had during the demo cause John was hella sus, Basically John is a witch, Canon Divergence, F/M, He was even sus at the beginning of the game, John is technically an antagonist in this role
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27460582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBrothersRowe/pseuds/TheBrothersRowe
Summary: He still didn't know why he was alive or how escaped, but here he was. Joseph escaped the trials of Little Hope, being forced to remember how many others hadn't. How many others were accused of being what he was. Joseph was born with extraordinary power that he kept hidden for his safety, but his curse came to haunt him, taking away his wife and many of his friends. His curse kept him living, and he tried moving on, getting a family. But as soon as he saw the face of his dear Amy again, he understood it was impossible. The curse following him and killing his family.Forced to run again, Joseph finally became John Twain, a college professor. The man taught for twenty years, struggling to find a purpose to his life still continuing and it seemed teaching was that. But soon his purpose was understood, as five familiar faces reappeared in his college class. John finally understood what his purpose was and these five were going to help him one way or another.
Relationships: Daniel/Taylor, John & Andrew, Joseph/Amy, Taylor & Ramona
Comments: 53
Kudos: 45





	1. Joseph, James, and John

“Not right now!” James shouted, slamming the door shut behind him, the booming noise echoing throughout the house. 

_Damnit, he didn’t want to deal with this!_

Stomping downstairs, James grabbed his coat and keys. He needed to get out of this damn house. “Dad?” Anthony asked in vain, him and Dennis watching the man head outside. “Don’t bother, he’s probably off to get drunk again at the pub so he can avoid all his responsibilities.” Regina bitterly remarked. 

The three of them watched their father leave, the man passing Tanya on his way to the car. “Do I want to know?” Tanya groaned, dusting the snow off of her shoulders. “It’s the same shit.” Dennis replied, groaning as his mother nagged for him to put away his vinyl. 

Anthony watched his siblings part ways, a sigh leaving him, it felt like things were always getting worse and worse in this house.

It was the exact reason James drove off after all. “Damned kids, she just had to get them.” James was fuming, all of it was too much. He thought he could fake it for Anne, but this was too much. It was already bad enough that they adopted the four teenagers, but now they had Megan. Looked exactly like that little brat that got his Amy and all those within Little Hope 

_Why the hell was god making him go through this again? It was already bad enough that he was forced to live through it all again, but this? Come back to this awful town and relive this awful fate. This too..?_

“You have to be kidding me.” James scowled, realizing he had left his wallet behind at the house. Yelling in aggravation, the man turned the car around to return home. As if this day could get any worse.

As the man drove up to his house, his eyes widened in disbelief as the house glowed a bright orange from the fire that was quickly spreading throughout. “Oh my god.” No even bothering to park properly, James hurried out of his car and rushed towards the building.

He heard the screams immediately, all of them pleading, shouting for any form of help. The only ones that he could see so far were Tanya, who was trapped on the balcony, and Dennis, who had just climbed out of the attic window. Tanya was the first to spot their father, the girl terrified as she could feel the heat coming from inside the house. “Dad, dad help!” She pleaded.

“Hold on! I’m coming!” James shouted as he ran over, “Where are the others?!”.

“Anthony ran in to find Megan. I don’t know where mom or Regina are!” Tanya quickly explained.

_Oh god, oh god not again!_

Similar to the past, Anthony was the one he was closest to him. He shared the same face as Abraham, a man whom he had grown close to during the days of Little Hope’s demise. Out of all the children, he had to say he tolerated him the most. With how he acted, it felt as if the man had been reborn the exact same. But he knew better then that, this was not Abraham. Still, he could not watch him face the same fate once again.

“Wait right there! Dennis, get to the balcony! I need to see where they are!” James shouted, hurrying towards the front of the house. As he made his way to the front, he noticed the window to the living room was broken. “No, not again! Anthony, Anne!” James shouted, trying to see through the fire.

Using a blanket to protect himself and Megan from the heat, Anthony made his way down the stairs. “Stay close Megan, we’re almost out.” Anthony coughed heavily, trying to keep his sister looking forward. His lungs were burning, coughing every second as he struggled to search for any sign of escape through the waves of fire.

The boys' hearts raced as they moved forward, trying to escape. He tried not to think about seeing Regina’s charred remains when she was trapped in her room or the danger that his two other siblings faced.

“Anthony!” A familiar voice made the two look up, seeing their father once the door was suddenly flung open. “Megan, come on!” Coughing heavily, Anthony lifted up his younger sister the best he could and rushed for the door. Megan clung tightly to his brother, shutting her eyes as she tried to block out the terrifying world around them.

Just as Anthony neared the door, a loud creaking noise filled the air. The boy looked up just in time to witness the ceiling give way. Megan gave a terrified shriek, the noise deafening. Pulling his sister closer, Anthony dropped to his knees wrapping his body around her like a shield as the ceiling dropped down on top of them, the world going dark and cold despite the blazing fires.

“NO!” James screamed, watching this. Not again, god not again.

“DAD!” Snapping out of his thoughts, James rushed over to the side of the house seeing Dennis and Tanya still struggling. “What should I do?” She pleaded.

Looking around, James understood she only had one opportunity to get out. “Tanya, you have to jump! I’ll catch you!” James rushed to the side of the house, just below the balcony.

Tanya bit her lip, she didn’t want to jump but it was quickly becoming her only choice. Climbing over the railing, Tanya stood at the ledge, whimpering. Taking a hesitant step to get closer to her dad, Tanya screamed as the icy floor made her slip. The girl’s cries were cut short as her scarf was caught on the railing, with the weight of her body a sickening snap filled the air, her body dangling from her scarf.

The horror didn’t end there, as moments later Dennis screaming made James look over just in time to watch the boy fall. His screams silenced as he landed on the iron fence.

_Oh god, it happened again and he was helpless to stop it. Anne suffocating and trapped, Tanya being hung, Dennis falling to his death, Abraham and Mary most likely were burned alive. It happened… it was happening again._

Shaking his head, James noticed the fire attracted people’s attention. Knowing how bad this looked, he had no choice but to run. And run he did, run and hide from his past like he had done for centuries. He was doing it again, running to escape from his fate. It was all he could do, as he had known how unforgiving the world was if it truly knew what he was.

Once again he was forced to change his identity, live a completely new life. Abandon Little Hope again to avoid his past. 

James Clarke was dead, just like his family. Now here he was again… now known as John Twain. Yes, a bit on the nose as he was now posing as a creative writing teacher for a college. Faking those papers wasn’t easy, but it gave him a clean slate.

He had been teaching roughly 20 years now, doing his best to avoid suspicious glances over the fact that he hadn’t aged since he had been there. It almost amused John, realizing how long he had been up to this. Sometimes he wondered why he was still kept going on, living in this web of lies and for what? To continue teaching? Yes, he did enjoy being a teacher, but it felt so ironic how he taught a creative writing class and his life he had now was a story of fiction.

These thoughts only got worse as he had stopped drinking, the memories and thoughts constantly plaguing him after a month. Drinking had been one of his only comforts for many years and it did hell to his body over the last few centuries. He may have not died of old age, but maybe destroying his liver would kill him? Maybe simply giving into the alcohol would be what ends this curse of living once and for all.

His thoughts were cut short as his new class of this year entered, John looking up as students began filling up all the seats. As he looked around, several faces caught his attention, the man's jaw dropping as he looked at them.

“Piss off, Daniel.” A purple haired woman hissed out, scowling at the boy in the red shirt as she took a seat beside a red haired woman. “Do you always have to be so aggressive, Ramona?” The redhead asked, her eyes wandering over to the red shirt.

Daniel, he assumed, smiled at her, swearing as he ran into another boy, who looked much younger then the rest of them. An older woman bearing the face of his sweet Amy apologized to the boy, before scowling at the other one.

John stared for another moment before flipping through his list of students, studying the names when he once again noticed a pattern, the first letters were always the same. Abraham had become Anthony, who was now Andrew Miller. His beloved Amy became Anne, and was now Angela Jenkins. David had become Dennis, and now was Daniel Garcia. Following the pattern, Tabitha turned into poor Tanya, now Taylor Moore. And finally, Rosemary had become the rebellious Regina, who was now Ramona Castillo, who seemed to have the same personality.

The man was stunned, how could this have happened again?! Why would they make him go through this again?!

As dread flooded through the man, an idea suddenly came to him. They were no longer in Little Hope, but maybe that was the point. Maybe… there was a reason he kept coming to him after being reborn. Perhaps this was the reason he was still here. To fix what happened back then with all of them. He’d have to plan this out thoroughly, it would take time but hell… he had all the time in the world.

Standing up from his desk, John smiled at his class, “Hello class. I’m Professor Twain, your creative writing teacher. I’m certain that this class will be unforgettable.”

_And he intended that it would be for certain._


	2. The Field Trip

John began to realize that in order for this plan to work, he’d have to really get to know this class. He couldn’t make it obvious about the five of them, but he could play a little bit of favorites. Maybe that would make things fall into place and such.

Over the first week of classes, John made sure to observe the five when he could. He noticed a few interesting things as a result. One of the biggest changes he noticed with Andrew was how detached the boy was. Unlike Abraham and Anthony, the boy mostly kept to himself, always being caught off guard when John would call him for an answer. He hated being in the spotlight. Hmm, maybe this change was for the best as his past versions had died because of how he spoke out or helped out how he could.

Next was Angela, who was also drastically different from her past selves. Angela was a stellar student, holding no shame for coming to college at this age. The woman also had a very sharp wit and had no issue with speaking her mind. It was a very large change compared to his sweet Amy… putting her nose into others affairs is what led to this all. He’d have to keep a close eye on her.

He also noticed an interesting shift from Daniel and Ramona. It seemed as if Daniel and Ramona were step-siblings in this recreation, step-siblings that really did not get along. Every time he saw them, the two of them were bickering or fighting. It was almost amusing. Daniel seemed to have changed the least, having a personality consisted of both versions. He had David’s kind heart and Dennis’ ‘cool’ personality, being a very popular person in the school but not the stereotypical jock and popular boy.

Ramona had quite an interesting change. While she had quite the rebellious personality as Regina, it wasn’t to this level. The girl had many visible tattoos, always wore a shirt that exposed a little too much cleavage, dark makeup, and dyed hair. She was certainly a good writer, but it would be better if she didn’t swear every other word in writing or while speaking. She also had a tendency to cause issues, specifically with Daniel whenever she could. It was only week one and he had to kick her out for her ill behavior disrupting the class.

Then finally there was Taylor, who had changed quite a bit compared to her last two versions. It was obvious she was trying to be more confident in herself like Daniel or more assertive like Ramona, but to John she was an open book. A girl who had just gone through a break up with her boyfriend of a couple years, her identity revolving around him and she now found herself lost, using Daniel and her best friend as a way to try and find herself. Taylor was by no means weak, the girl was very head strong, but she still struggled when it meant becoming a part of the group.

Whenever he could, John made sure to take notes on these five whenever he could, things had to go according to plan perfectly in order to get them to Little Hope. He’d have to plan this out very carefully, think of a way to even get them there without arousing suspicion. Maybe have a field trip for him and the class, then have some sort of event lead them towards Little Hope. It had been years since he… used his abilities, but he knew he still had it in him.

_ It’s been over 300 years, he had to get this right… or he’d never have the chance again. _

“Alright class, our first project is going to focus on fiction. I’ve set everyone up into groups of five, each of you will get a certain topic of fiction and will craft your own story over the semester.” John explained, picking up his roster to pick out the groups, “Lindsey, Milly, Brendon, Frank, and Lynn,you’ll be dealing with sci-fi. Rebecca, Austin, Steven, Ben, and Sophia, you’ll be working with fantasy. And lastly, Andrew, Ramona, Daniel, Taylor, and Angella, you five will be working on the supernatural.”

The last group didn’t seem too thrilled about their pairing, but it had to be done. If they did enough research on this topic, maybe one of them would discover Little Hope. Get interested by the towns fucked up history and perhaps convince the others to study it. He had to play this right, not get caught or all this suffering would be for nothing. There had to be some sort of meaning for all of this that he went through.

_ First watching countless people being tried and executed then his entire family killed in a fire he couldn’t stop. _

Even if he… got drunk a lot and tried to avoid his responsibilities, he could have done something. Prevent the cycle from happening again. Nothing was going to stop him, no, nothing was going to stop him from getting his beloved Amy back and stopping Carver and that evil brat Mary.

“Professor, you okay? You look upset about something.” The man looked up to see Taylor standing beside his desk. “Oh, I’m alright, Taylor. It’s just been a long weekend of grading assignments.” He responded. “You know, it’d be a lot easier if you assigned a lot less homework.” Taylor offered with a sly smile. “I got a better deal, why don’t you go join your group before I assign more homework.” John remarked, chuckling a bit at the girls eye roll.

Taylor took her assignment and joined the other four, John watching them for a moment before standing up to give the class some instructions on this assignment.

“So, supernatural. What kind of supernatural do we want to focus on? Demons, ghosts, zombies?” Taylor asked, wanting to get the conversation rolling. She knew Ramona pretty well from the two having multiple classes together over the last two years. Her and Daniel had also been… well an item for a bit. As for Angella and Andrew, she had no clue about them. Andrew seemed nice but god, she really did not like Angella.

“What do you think, Freshman?” Ramona said, making Andrew look up surprised at being addressed, “Why don’t you pick something.”.

It took a minute for the boy to think, the strong sensation of witchcraft came to his mind. He had no idea why, he had never believed in witches or any of the stuff. Yes, he had the general interest in the Salem witch trials during history, but that was about it. “And remember class, do whatever comes to your mind. This is a creative writing class after all, be expressive. Do something unique.” John explained, giving the class a nod, but Anthony could have sworn he was looking at him when he nodded.

Looking away from John, Andrew looked at his group. “How about we do our topic on witch trials?” He said.

“You mean like Salem?” Daniel asked. “There’s more than just Salem, pendejo.” Ramona scoffed, folding her arms over her chest. 

_ Why’d she have to get stuck in a group with him? It was already bad enough that their parents were married and that they were in the same class, but now the same group? Why did the world hate her?! _

“I don’t believe in any of it, but I suppose it’s better then writing about whatever ghouls she was discussing earlier.” Angella remarked, getting a glare from Taylor.

“Guys, come on.” Andrew sighed aloud as the four bickered. He hated group projects so much, why couldn’t he just do this project alone?

John watched the group from his desk, a slight smirk on his face. Things were going just according to plan.

_ Don’t worry, Amy… I’ll save you, I promise. _

The next two months were agonizing, every waking hour possessed with the thoughts of the plan. Constantly going over every detail over and over again. He couldn’t fuck this up, no he couldn’t. Just a little longer, he just needed to keep it together a little longer. He hated that he had to wait so long, but it needed to be done.

And soon enough it was finally time. The final drafts were turned in for the fiction stories and his plan was ready to officially begin. Waiting for class to end, John pulled the five aside to speak to them. “What is it this time? We turned the paper in on time.” Ramona huffed, sitting on his desk. “Did we mess up something?” Taylor asked, messing with her now short hair.

“No, no, it’s good I promise, but it’s well. It’s missing the heart, the passion.” John explained.

“What’s that mean?” Daniel asked, looking at their teacher curious.

“It’s well written, all of your writing styles were woven together amazingly, but there’s no passion to keep the writer invested. No real care for the subject.” The five weren’t thrilled about hearing that, a collective groan leaving them, “Now hold on, let me finish. All of you have talent, but if you want to pass my class or any English class for that matter, we’re going to have to fix this. So I’m suggesting an… interesting proposal. I have to go to writing meetings where teachers from all over come, we visit galleries and libraries to experience what older writers wrote to get a real sense of what passion they had. If you five come with me and experience it as well, it will give you the boost you need.”.

_ There was no need for him to go though, he already had a couple centuries worth of knowledge. _

“Is this really necessary?” Daniel groaned, scratching the back of his neck.

“Yeah, I thought we did pretty good on our book.” Andrew muttered, not really thrilled at the idea of doing this.

“Trust me, this will be the trip of a lifetime. You’ll learn plenty from it.” John explained.

The five looked between each other and soon enough gave in. Some were less thrilled than others, but they all eventually agreed. “Perfect, we’ll be taking a bus there. Friday, 8PM. You all can sleep on the ride there.” John ignored the responses from them, putting the papers in his bag before leaving.

_ So close, they were so close. _

Friday came and John relaxed seeing the five of them arriving. “Let’s get this over with, I got important shit to do.” Ramona scowled. “Oh, you have a life now.” Angella remarked. 

“Hey, no fighting, it’s a long ride there.” John explained, taking a seat near the bus driver. Angella sat near the front as well, already in a bad mood because of the younger students. The remaining four sat in the back, Ramona sitting beside Taylor, Daniel behind them, and Andrew sitting by himself on the opposite side.

Once everyone had been seated the bus driver drove off through the night. A sigh left John, rubbing his thumb over the coin as he stared out into the dark night. It was actually happening. He was going back to Little Hope, he’d get his Amy back and end this damned curse. It took a while to remember the road, but he recognized that bridge immediately.

_ Now to just give them a way there. _

He had hardly used any of his abilities since the 70’s, but he got it to work. A single roadblock apparition and a fake officer telling the bus driver they’d have to cut through Little Hope. His head was pounding, but at least it was done… so close, they were so close.

“You rub that chip any harder, it’ll wear away to nothing.” Angella suddenly said, snapping John out of his thoughts. The tingling feeling coming from his fingers let him know she was right, he had started rubbing it aggressively since the headache came. “How long have you been sober?” She asked.

_ Everything looks okay after teen beers. _

John shook his head, ignoring the memories before looking at Angella, “A few days shy of three months.”. “Impressive! I heard the first 90 days are the toughest… and the roughest.” Angella said.

_ It was always difficult to break the habit, having been struggling with it for so many years now. _

John held up the chip, allowing Angella to see it better, “I know it doesn’t add up but… I get something from holding onto this.”. It wasn’t exactly a lie, it held some truth, he did feel almost… normal and in control when he held it.

The bus took a turn, passing the Little Hope sign and Angella noticed immediately. “We’re going the wrong way!”

“It’s fine, just a quick detour.”

“It’s not fine!”

“Calm down, it’s all okay.”

Famous last words, as he said that the bus driver let out a startled yell startling everyone. John looked up, shocked to find Megan standing in the road. Trying to avoid her, the bus driver took a sharp turn. The roads were still slick from the rain from the previous day and he quickly lost control, the bus crashing onto its side and the world going dark.


	3. Welcome To ABANDON Hope

The crash was a rough one, but it worked nonetheless. Shit, he just hoped that everyone was okay though. Wincing, the man stood up, looking around. The bus had been completely tipped over, and so far he could only see Andrew and Taylor within the bus. Where were the other three then? 

“Professor!” Taylor let out a relieved gasp, glad she wasn’t the only one around. The girl grunted, turning her focus back to Andrew, struggling to pull him from his seat. John grimaced seeing the boy unconscious, a gash on his head. It was a rough crash for everyone it seemed.

“Here, I got him.” John replaced places with Taylor, pulling Andrew out of the bus and she followed after him. Once they were both out, John laid Andrew against the bus, trying to wake him up. While John tended to Andrew, Taylor began looking around for any sign of the others. 

_Crap, could this get any worse?!_

After a while, Andrew woke up, wincing as he came to. There was a man in front of him and a girl pacing back and forth using her phone to search for a signal. His head was pounding, what happened and where was he?

“Where the hell’s Daniel? I can’t find him.” Taylor said, approaching the two. “I don’t know.” John responded, checking Andrew’s responsiveness.

Seeing as he would be no help, Taylor took her phone searching for any signal again. “Uurghh!” She exclaimed, seeing as there was nothing.

John looked up, not amused by her antics, “Instead of goofing around, you want to lend a hand here?”.

A sigh left Taylor, forcing herself to calm down as she looked at the two, genuine concern on her face as she looked at Andrew. “How is he doing anyway?” Taylor asked. “Doesn’t look that serious. Could be concussed.” John responded, checking Andrew over again.

  
“Okay, Professor. Or should I call you doctor now?” Taylor quipped, at least someone was finding their situation amusing.

“Why don’t you try calling for help? Maybe a cop, something like that.” John retorted.

_And there he was again._

“I already tried once but I’m on it.” Once again Taylor took out her phone, searching for any signal but there was nothing. 

While Taylor was busy with that, John focused back on Andrew who seemed more aware. “Hey, Andrew buddy, how you doing?” John asked. Andrew took a moment to respond, collecting his senses as he looked around, “Where are we? What happened?”. “The bus crashed, we’re okay though, just shaken up.”

The next things he said concerned John, “If you say so. I don’t remember being in any crash.”. “You’re probably in shock.” John explained, trying to keep him calm, “Maybe a mild concussion in there too. Give yourself some time.”. 

Meanwhile, the others weren’t fairing as well, having fallen out of the back of the bus. Daniel was the first up, looking back to see Ramona help Angela up. “Fuck, where’s my phone?” He asked, checking his pockets and looking around. 

“Really? Mierda, that’s your biggest concern?” Ramona scoffed, helping Angela up to her feet. The area around them was extremely dark, but thankfully Daniel found a flashlight and Ramona still had her phone on her. Her dad was a security officer and as a result he always made sure that she had a flashlight in case her phone died, batteries, and her taser. “Yeah, just steal my flashlight cause you're under prepared. Algún genio eres.” She muttered,

Daniel ignored her, looking back up to where the bus was, “Hey! Anyone up there?”.

Hearing his voice, John stood up, approaching the ledge cautiously, “Hey? Daniel? That you?”. “John! Good to hear you!” “Daniel!” Taylor and John headed to the ledge, spotting the missing three there.

“Taylor, you okay?” Daniel asked, getting an eye roll from Ramona. “I’m good.” She replied.

“We’re fine too, thanks for asking. You okay down there?” John asked.

A scoff left Ramona, the woman gesturing to where they were, “We got flung out of a fucking bus into a ditch, you tell me, Professor.”.

“I’m alright. Nothing I can’t deal with.” Angela explained, still spry for her age.

Daniel looked back up, staring at the knocked over bus, “Hey John, any idea what caused the crash?”. “Not sure. Looked like the driver swerved to avoid something in the road. He down there by the way?” The plan to get here was his idea, but certainly not the crash. Why the Hell did he see Megan on the road?

“Nope, no sign of him.” Daniel explained.

“He’s not here. Is there any way for you three to get up here?” John asked, looking around.

“No can do, climb is way too steep.” Ramona stated. “There’s a trail, we’ll take that.” Daniel added.

“Alright, take the trail, it should lead to the road. We need to regroup.” And with that the three walked off, allowing them to turn their focus back onto Andrew. “Hey Taylor, help me get Andrew up onto his feet.” John said.

Andrew looked at the two in a confused daze, still struggling to remember. “Wait. I don’t remember anything… who are you?” He asked. John forced himself to remain calm, panicking or freaking out would just make things more difficult in the long run. 

“It’s okay, you’re concussed. I’m John, your college professor. We were taking a bus on a field trip, but that didn’t work out so well. Crash wasn’t on the curriculum!” He threw in the joke to calm the boy, hoping it would work, “We’ll find the others, get some help. Think of it as a character building exercise”. 

It was easy to pull him up, Andrew shaking his head before looking at his teacher, “I had this dream. It was so real, flames all around us, it was grim… then just… darkness.”.

Hearing that made John’s stomach knot, staring at the boy in stunned horror. “That bang on the head must’ve been a beauty.” Taylor chuckled, not noticing their professor’s shift in mood. 

John stepped away from the two, his words dawning on him. The horrific fire that wiped out his entire family, all the death, and the swift end of Anthony and Megan. Is that why Megan was on the road? Is that why Andrew saw what happened from the fire? Shit, did he know?! No, no he needed to calm down. There was no way Andrew knew about it, about any of this. It had to be just because of his concussion.

“Hey, professor, you okay?” Taylor asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. 

“Hmm, yeah I’m fine. Come on, let’s head down the road and meet up with the others.” John said, ignoring their concerned looks as he walked ahead. Taylor gave a concerned look to Andrew, it was obvious something was up and it felt like it was more than just the crash. 

“Yeah, but where’s the bus driver? Shouldn’t he be back by now?” Taylor asked. 

“He’s doing what we should be doing. Heading into town to find help. Keep complaining if you want, I’m going.” The two were surprised by the sudden harshness in his voice. The two looked at each other for a moment before nodding, following after John. Something about this just didn’t sit well with Taylor, like there was more to this.

The walk down the road felt like an eternity, the forest feeling the same no matter how far they walked. Eventually the scenery finally changed, a single sign visible on the right side of the road, the three of them approaching it.

_Welcome to -Little- ABANDON Hope_

Well… that was certainly charming. “You know this place ‘Little Hope’?” Taylor asked, looking over to Andrew.

“No… I mean… I don’t think so.” Andrew responded.

“You should both know Little Hope.” John suddenly said, staring at the sign. Okay, the professor was really starting to creep her out now. What the hell was going on with him? “Why should I have heard of this place?” Taylor asked, not making the connection thankfully. “This place is steeped in history. Full of tragedy.” The tone of his voice unnerved her.

“How… how do you know all this stuff anyway?” Taylor asked, not knowing how to feel about this.

A scoff left John, the man finally looking away from the sign, “I’m a professional academic, I read books. I’ve spent a long time studying places like this, little towns that no one bats an eye at or questions their history. Anyway come on, we need to find the other three.”.

John walked off and Andrew prepared to follow him when Taylor stopped him. “Does the professor seem… weird to you?” She asked, glancing back at the man walking away.

“I don’t know, maybe he’s just stressed because of the crash?” Andrew offered, “Maybe just lay off of him, he’s doing the best he can.”. A sigh left Taylor, shaking her head as she followed after the two. Something wasn’t right about this, she knew it in her gut.

After a bit longer of walking, they approached a gate where the other three were. “Good to see you three, finally. Everything okay?” And suddenly he was just back to the normal professor.

“Sure, we took the scenic route.” Daniel replied.

“You sure as hell took your own sweet time. I was getting worried.” Taylor said. It was true, something about being here gave her a really really bad feeling.

Hearing this made Angela scoff, giving an accusing glance to Taylor, “I bet you were.”. Ramona snickered at this, she hated Angela at first but she had to admit, she was loving how sassy this old lady was. No hesitation at all. Now she was starting to understand why Daniel’s mom liked her so much. 

Both sides worked together, busting the gate open and broke off the chain, finally reuniting the six of them. “Please tell me we have a plan? Or is the idea to stand around and die from the elements?” Ramona asked.

“I already said I want to wait at the bus for help. Not head into town like John wants.” Taylor said, glancing at her teacher. 

“And we’ve already concluded this conversation.” John retorted.

“Not all of us, we should vote on it.” Angela said. “Yeah, why should you guys make the choices while we’re gone.” Ramona stated, folding her arms over her chest.

This only seemed to anger John more, “No need for a vote. A decision has already been made.”.

Yes, he had the occasional heated moment, but this attitude was starting to take everyone by surprise. “There isn’t going to be a vote, alright? We’re heading into town.” John stated.

“We really don’t have time to argue.” Andrew remarked.

“John’s right, our best bet is going into town.” Angela said.

“Even a disease ridden town has to have a phone somewhere right.” Ramona groaned, not thrilled at all about this but it was their only shot of getting out of here anytime soon.

The group continued to bicker for a while and eventually Taylor and Daniel made their decision to wait at the bus stop. The two of them walked away only to find themselves approaching the other four again. “Romeo se volverá loco.” Ramona did a whistle and a crazy motion on the side of her head.

“What? This isn’t right.” Daniel turned around, running down the road only to come back and nearly knock over Taylor.

“What is up with you two?” John asked, not in a mood.

Taking Taylor’s hand, Daniel looked at the group, “Indulge me.”. With that, the two walked down the street again only to come right back. It even got to the point where all six of them tried together and came back to where they originally were.

“I admit that is a little odd.” Angela said, all of them looking around confused. “We are trapped! We can’t leave here!” Taylor exclaimed.

“Maybe we all died in the crash...” Daniel said. “Great, I get stuck living with you, dying with you, and stuck roaming the afterlife with you! Fuck!” Ramona exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. “Oh like you’re any better?” Daniel shot back.

“Hey! Can everyone calm down? As far as I know, we are all still alive and kicking.” John said, failing to calm them all down.

“I know who I’d like to be kicking! This is all down to you, this pissy little field trip.Now we’re stuck here in Little No Hope!” Taylor snapped out. 

“That is way out of line. I had no way of knowing that the bus would crash. You can’t put that on me.” _That part was at least true._

This just pissed Taylor off more, glaring at her professor, “Are you for fucking real?!”

“Watch your tone, will you? I am doing my best to understand this, just like you and the rest of us. How about this? Someone else thinks they can do a better job? Step right up! So unless you're going to do something, bitching about it won’t do anything! Understand?! Now we all have to work together. The fog is between us and the bus. So logically we need to head towards town. Unless someone else has an idea! If there’s nothing else to be said, we’ll head to town! Where there will be people and a working phone.” John exclaimed, rendering everyone silent, “Now come on.”.

The only thing to do was head to town… but it just felt so wrong to keep going. Something about this just felt so wrong. “Guys, I think there is something seriously wrong with the professor. I have a really bad feeling about this.” Taylor said, walking near the back of the group with Ramona, Daniel, and Andrew.

“He did seem a little off when we approached that sign.” Andrew added, not liking the idea of talking behind the professor’s back.

“He seemed really wound up, more so than usual.” Daniel stated.

“So what? We just keep an eye on the professor and pray he doesn’t lose it on us?” Ramona questioned.

“I don’t know, but I know my guts right about this. There is something extremely wrong with this place and he knows a lot more than he’s telling us.” Taylor said, eyeing the teacher from her spot.

Little did Taylor know how right she was, he knew so much more than he let on. In fact, he was the one that had made that fog to make them head towards Little Hope. It was the only way that would stop any of them from trying to leave. Using his abilities gave him another migraine, but he simply said it was from the crash. It was the least of his concerns though, as they were so close to making it. After over 300 years, it was finally going to happen.

_He was home and he’d be ending this once and for all._


	4. The Neverending Road

Heading towards town wasn’t their favorite, but it was the only choice the group had. It didn’t help that the road and the woods around them looked the exact same in every direction they looked. “I don’t like the look of that place at all.” Taylor grimaced, keeping behind Daniel as they spotted a bar on the side of the road.

“Maybe they won’t ask for ID!” Daniel chuckled. “Well damn, we actually agreed on something for once.” Ramona mused. Yeah, she was 21 now but it was more fun to drink underage.

The six of them approached the dimly lit bar, unable to tell if anyone was there from the outside. “I’m not so sure this is such a great idea.” Taylor said.

“We should check it out, there could be a phone inside.” John explained. 

_God, was he just going to keep going back and forth on how he acted?_

While some of them weren’t comfortable with the idea, all of them made their way into the bar. Place was practically abandoned aside from a single man at the bar, sitting by the only light source in the entire bar. The man looked over and John’s eyes widened. 

_Oh god, Vince._

The man looked over to the group walking in, staring at all their faces in surprise, five of them looking back at him and one turning to look away from him. Seeing as their teacher suddenly stopped, Andrew forced himself to approach the man. “Hi there. How you doing?” He nervously asked, he was never a fan of starting conversations, “Excuse me, we’re looking for our bus driver. Have you seen him?”.

Vince looked at the group, setting his glass down and scoffed. “That’s funny. Must’ve finally lost my mind.” He chuckled.

“Can you tell us what’s up with that fog outside? We can’t leave this place.” Hearing the sound of Taylor’s voice had him on full alert now, Vince looking at the girl between Ramona and Daniel. It was her face, but different. Was this real?

Vince stood up, approaching Taylor “Tanya, is that you?".

Just as he reached out for her, Daniel pushed his hand back, getting in front of Taylor defensively. “Don’t touch her, creep.” He glared.

This angered Vince, and looked at the group with rage. “This isn’t right. All of you! You shouldn’t be here! You shouldn’t-!” He stopped once he finally looked at John, “YOU! You son of a bitch, I know it was you! It was you that did this and now you brought them back here?! After you left them behind and left him! ALL OF YOU GET OUT!”.

The six of them were forced out of the bar, unable to process what just happened. “Jesus, what the hell was that freaks problem?!” Ramona exclaimed. “Bastard tried to touch Taylor!” Daniel snapped.

While the four were focused on yelling about the man inside the bar, Andrew’s concern was on John. Like Taylor had said, the man seemed… unwell. Different then normal, at least from what he knew. Andrew walked over to the professor, noticing the man seemed to be in his own world right now.

John kept a calm look on the outside, but on the inside the man was panicking. Shit, Vince was still in town and he knew something was up! How the hell did he know-?! Wait… he said left him behind specifically. Oh god… Anthony didn’t die instantly after the ceiling fell. His stomach knotted with guilt at the thought of the boy surviving just barely, trapped under burning embers pleading for his father, possibly dying alone in a hospital or worse.

_Oh god, what have I done?_

The thoughts were coming in faster than he could process, but John forced himself to relax. The guilt over that night was much worse, but he couldn’t let that stop him from reaching his goal. He just had to pray that Vince would stay out of it. Considering how he recognized Taylor, there was a sneaking feeling that that wasn’t going to happen. If it came to it, he could bring up the fog to keep Vince back long enough for them to do what was needed. However, he couldn’t use all his energy just yet, no, he had to play this carefully.

“Hey, professor, you okay?” Andrew asked, walking over to John.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah I’m fine. I’m sure he was just too lost in the drink. It’ll do that to you sometimes.” John stated.

“Good thing I don’t intend on drinking.” Andrew responded, before looking back to find the others still bickering, “Hey, don’t get too mad at them, okay? We’re all stressed and freaked. I know you’re doing your best, it’s just a crappy situation. So… for what it’s worth, I think you’re doing a great job. I trust you’ll find us a way out.”.

Hearing that threw John for a loop, John forcing himself to swallow the lump in his throat. “Thank you, Andrew. Don’t worry, we’ll get out of here.” John said, patting the boys back before looking at the others, “Alright, come on! We’re going to keep heading towards town.”.

“Heading out to Little Hope is our only option.” Andrew said, following after the group, remaining in back with Angela. “I’m not so sure about that.” Angela commented. “Where else would we go?” Andrew asked, struggling to keep up with the others, but it felt like no matter how fast he was walking he couldn’t see them.

“This fog isn’t natural.” Andrew grimaced, using his phone light to try and see down the road, “I’m starting to think that Taylor is right.”.

“Are you listening to her now?” Angela scoffed lightly.

As they walked down the path, Andrew noticed a strange… stick figure strapped to the fence on the side of the road. The boy started feeling torn between sides. Yes, he trusted John but at the same time something wasn’t right about this place.

The fog was extremely thick no matter which direction they looked. No sign of the others within the neverending road that moved forward. No way back, just forward, only forward. Whispers and giggles nipping at his ears, but no matter where he looked he only found himself and Angela. There had to be another presence there, but no matter where he looked there was nothing. Soon enough Angela was starting to hear the noises, the two of them looking around for any signs of the others but were only responded with noises from the woods.

As Andrew kept walking, the fog began to lighten, a haunting voice singing around them. The only thing he could see was a rock ring near the fences, the boy hesitantly approaching them and finding a doll beside it. “What on earth is that?’ Angela asked, disgust clear on her face as she stared at the strange object.

“No clue.” Andrew responded, crouching down to observe the doll before picking it up. The thing was certainly old judging by how it was made, nothing of this time that’s for sure, nothing like his little sister had. 

_Something about it felt… vaguely familiar, he had no idea why. It was calling to him but he didn’t know why._

Sighing, he prepared to put down the doll when he looked up and saw a girl standing in front of him and Angela. Before he could say anything the girl appeared in front of them, letting out a shriek as she gripped Andrew’s wrist tightly, making them both fall back.

The two stumbled into the ground, horrified to find that their surroundings had completely changed. The strange girl stood before them, staring at them curiously, wearing an entirely new outfit and even dawning a strange accent. “What is your name, sir?” The young girl asked curiously, raising a brow to look at him.

It took him a moment to speak, his name barely coming out right “Andrew…”.

“An-Drew?” The girl repeated, the name felt foreign on her tongue but she liked it, “I am called Mary.”. With a giggle and a laugh, Mary held up her poppet to show the two, “I fashioned her with my own hand. She looks just like the one beside you! Would you kindly come play with me?”. The girl giggled, frolicking around the fire until a hooded figure appeared.

“What witch’s trickery is this now, Mary?” The figure asked.

“I have done nothing.” The girl retorted, scowling at the older woman.

“Hold your tongue! I see what you truly are, Mary. Reverend Carver’s affection for you will be shaken loose when he learns of your infidelity with the Devil!” As the two stood, the woman let out a gasp. The woman turned and left hastily, Mary following after her and suddenly the world was back to normal.

The others were even back, looking at the two of them. “Finally, we thought we lost you to this damned fog.” Ramona huffed.

“There’s someone else out here, by the fire.” Angela hastily said, pointing behind them only to realize that once again it was only a rock ring.

“What? I don’t see any fire.” John stated. “I saw them too.” Andrew quickly defended. “Are you okay?” John asked, looking at him worried. “I know what I saw, Angela tell them.” Andrew said.

“A little girl showed up through the fog and just like that she was gone again.” Angela explained.

_A little girl? Could it have been Megan? Why was she showing up everywhere? This wasn’t his doing, so what was going on?_

Hearing that and adding it up with everything else that was happening, the others were starting to get really worried. “What is going on?!” Daniel exclaimed. “I’m starting to think that Daniel’s death theory might be right after all, this is the perfect definition of hell if you ask me!” Ramona snapped.

“Maybe the fog has got you confused. We’re all stressed out.” John stated, trying to calm them all down. It was getting harder to do this though, they were becoming more aware of his mood shift and they were getting more afraid of the area around them.

“Stressed my ass! I saw a girl dancing right here, clear as day.” Angela shot back, refusing to believe this was all in her head.

“Said her name was Mary. Looked exactly like the girl in my dream but…”

Oh god, they saw Mary. Andrew continued explaining what they saw while John was deep in though. First Megan, now Mary? Andrew recognized her face, was he remembering things from his past lives? No, that wouldn’t make any sense if he did. No sense at all. Still, what was going on? Was Little Hope somehow allowing them to see fragments of the past? If that was true, things were certainly going to get much more complicated. He needed to hurry before that happened.

As he came back too, he noticed a bruise on the boy’s wrist. “Think that girl had it out for you, Freshman?” Ramona asked, watching Andrew rub his wrist in pain. Angela walked over, frowning with concern as she felt his forehead, “Your burning up. Did that girl do something to you?”.

“We should all keep an eye on Andrew.” John explained, giving the boy a concerned look before looking at the others “Now we should keep heading towards town.”

“You still want to go after he just got marked or some shit but that crazy little girl?” Ramona scoffed.

“Got a better idea? Thought not.” John said, leading the group down the road towards the town. Reluctantly everyone followed, it seemed as if going to Little Hope really was their only hope.


	5. Seeing Double

Again it was the never ending game of walking down the road. Ramona groaned as she walked in the back with Andrew and Daniel, using her phone to light up the dark road. They got lucky if there was a street light here or there, but overall the area was so dark. The damned fog wasn’t helping at all either.

“I am so sick and tired of this damned fog, I swear.” Ramona hissed out as they walked, groaning as her phone got a warning that the battery was below 20 percent, “Mierda!”.

“Careful Ramona, keep this up and Andrew here will know how to say every swear word in Spanish.” Daniel commented, chuckling.

“At least he’d be able to speak Spanish unlike some fake Latino I know.” Ramona shot back, getting a glare from Daniel. “You always got shit with me, are we really going to do this shit now? We have more important things to deal with, so for once I’d like you to stop with it.” Daniel stated.

_ Oh shit, nope, Andrew was getting out of here. _

As the two got into it, Andrew walked a bit faster and caught up with his professor. “The two at it again?” John scoffed. “Are they always like this?” Andrew groaned. “Yes, as far as I know. It’s always the same with those two.” John responded.

A soft chuckle left Andrew, looking back to see the two arguing still, “This makes me glad that Becca is only 11.”.

“You have a younger sister?” John asked.

“Yeah. Becca, she’s a sweet kid. Love princesses and everything pink.” He let out a small laugh, scratching the back of his neck, “She would make me watch Disney movies on loop with her every time we got to visit.”.

That caught John’s attention, the man looking at the boy, “What was that?’.

Andrew grimaced realizing what he said and sighed, shaking his head, “We might get a better view of town up there.”. Before John could stop him, Andrew headed up to the hill, a nice picnic area set up by a river. Shit, he was really worried about that boy.

Making sure that the others were heading towards the town still, John headed up the hill and approached Andrew, seeing the boy leaning against the fence and observing the terrain around him. “Hey, you okay?” John asked, standing beside him.

“Yeah, just… The view kinda reminds me of going camping with my dad. Visiting the river. We used to fish together believe it or not.” Andrew said.

“Hm, never took you as the outdoor kind of kid. Most kids your age are addicted to your fancy smartphones and stuff.” John chuckled, hoping to calm the boy and make him feel more relaxed

A sigh left the boy, Andrew shaking his head, “Not anymore. My… my parents split up a couple years ago, dad never said why. Just took Becca and left. I mean I get to visit every other weekend but… he treats me more like a stranger than a son.”. “God, Andrew I’m sorry.” He was starting to understand why he acted as he did.

“I just… My dad was my best friend for the longest time, when he just left I… I don’t know. I guess after he left, I was just scared of getting that close to someone again.” Andrew confessed, holding his head in his hands.

John looked at the boy and sighed softly, “I get that in a way. A… long time ago I used to have a family. A wife who I didn’t deserve and children I wasn’t there for. They needed me and I wasn’t there for them. I could’ve been a better father and husband, but I wasn’t. I guess… I thought I could find a way to make up for it all.”.

It seemed as if it was Andrew’s turn to comfort him, as John felt a pat on his shoulder, “John, I think you're doing pretty great. This… this is the first time I trusted someone like this in a very long time.”.

As he said this, the two could hear someone calling for them. “Come on, John. We should catch up with the others.” Andrew said. “You go on ahead Andrew, I’ll join you guys in a moment.” John said, watching the boy head back towards the group. The moment he was gone John hit the fence yelling out loud in anger, his fist trembling. 

_ Damnit, DAMNIT! This wasn’t supposed to happen. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this... _

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, John made his way towards the group. He still had a goal for being here… but he knew it was going to hurt them both like hell when it eventually happened.

“Finally, let’s keep going.” Daniel said, all of them heading down the path and eventually reaching the bridge. The sight of someone made them all stop in their place. “What the hell is that?” Taylor gasped. “Doesn’t look good.” Ramona grimaced.

“I’ll deal with this. Stay right here.” John said, looking over to the group. If they really were seeing things from the past, it was better if he approached them. Considering how Mary just touching him made Andrew feel ill and the worry of the rest finding out, he had to handle this.

“Hold up, I’ll come with you.” Angela joined him, and the man sighed knowing he couldn’t stop her.

As the two adults walked ahead, the rest were shocked as a fog quickly took over, separating them. “Hey, you two!” Andrew shouted in vain. Angela gasped in terror as she looked around, finding the fog blocking their path entirely. “This is not good.” John murmured, not wanting to be obvious. The man winced as another migraine came but he shook it off, continuing towards the bridge, the lights going off as they approached the child in the road.

“Hey! Anyone there?” John called out as all of the lights went out, flinching as they all turned back on. As he turned around, he saw a ghostly woman who let out a shriek, grabbing onto his arm.

“John!” Angela shouted, being pulled in as well. John looked around, recognizing these woods. 

_ What the hell was going on? This wasn’t his doing. Just the fog and the vision that brought them here, nothing else. God, what was happening? This wasn’t supposed to be happening. _

Angela stepped behind John, watching nervously as the woman spoke “Who are you? What is it you want from me?”.

The moment he heard that voice, John gasped, staring at the cloaked figure. “Amy?” The word slipped from his mouth before he could stop it, unable to believe that she was really here, after so long she was here before him.

Hearing her name, the woman tried running. “Wait! Don’t go!” John pleaded, grabbing her wrist which made her hood fall. “Stay away!” Amy cried out, Angela gasping when she saw who she was.

“What the hell are you? What do you want?” Angela was frightened, it was like looking into a mirror, “You look… That’s impossible!”.

“A black tongue full of riddles. I will not succumb to a witch’s spell.” Amy spat out, “Please, Lord, I beg you. Rid me of these apparitions.”.

“Please, calm down.” John pleaded.

“Fix your gaze elsewhere! You are no husband of mine.” Amy scowled, hurting the man. He was, but of course she’d have no clue. 300 years could change so much. God, he was finally here and she didn’t even believe it was him. This isn’t what he wanted.

Before he could stop her, Amy ran off, the two returning back to reality. Angela let out frightened gasps, struggling to relax. “Calm down. Let’s keep heading to town. It’s not so far now and it’s our best shot at getting help.” John explained. 

_ They needed to get there before these visions revealed more, he couldn’t fail, not when he was so close. _

“You guys okay?” Andrew was the first to pass through the heavy fog, the others following after.

“I am very far from okay. I am terrified and confused. I just saw my own double in the fog!” Angela exclaimed. “What happened in there?” Taylor asked, still struggling to understand what the hell was even happening anymore. “This woman came out of nowhere in the fog, dressed like an extra from Salem! She was garbling something in an accent I didn’t recognize… and, most disturbing of all she was the spitting image of me!” Angela exclaimed.

What the hell? Andrew approached Angela, worried for her, was this like what the saw earlier, “How is that even possible?”.

“You’re taking this way out of proportion, Angela!” John snapped, his temper and foul mood had only increased since he saw Amy. He was running out of time!

However, it wasn’t working on the rest anymore. “I am all done here.” Taylor stated, no, fuck this she couldn’t handle this anymore! This place was way too fucking creepy and the professor had clearly lost it! Fuck this, she wanted to get the fuck out of here before something like that happened to them too!

“The fog is blocking us from going anywhere but town!” John exclaimed. 

“Calm the fuck down before you have a heart attack.” Ramona scowled.

“The fog decides where we can and can’t go? Bullshit, you want us to listen to it too? Fat chance. I’m finding another way, with or without you guys.” Taylor stated.

The thought of any of them splitting up during this time was a scary thought, who knew what could be hidden in the fog? “Maybe splitting up isn’t such a good idea, Taylor.” Andrew statd, stopping as Ramona put a hand on his shoulder. “Let her do what she wants, Freshman. Can’t blame her for not wanting to stay in this shit show.” Ramona explained, giving her best friend a small nod. She was gonna keep heading towards town, but she understood why Taylor would want to get out of here.

Taylor gave an understanding to her nod, wishing her friend would come but she understood why, “I’m not crossing that bridge, I’m sorry.”.

A sigh left Andrew, giving a small nod “I’m staying with John.”.

“I’m with Taylor surprisingly. After that there’s no way I want to go anywhere near that town.” Angela stated.

“Guess I’m with the Professor and Freshman.” Ramona mused. No one wanted to split up, but they couldn’t come to a complete agreement. This place was too freaky for some, but the rest knew that reaching town was their only chance of finding help. Following after their teacher, Ramona and Andrew crossed the bridge, the boy looked back one more time to see the other three heading towards the path.

_ Please… be okay guys. Something bad was happeni _


	6. Packing Heat

“I still don’t like the idea of those three being on their own. Who knows what the fuck is out here.” Ramona said, having to switch to her flashlight as her phone battery finally gave out. Stupid thing, should’ve charged the fucking thing before she left.

“It was their decision.” Andrew responded.

A soft huff left Ramona, playing with a strand of her purple hair “Let’s hope they find help. This place gives me the creeps, and I don’t get scared easily.”.

The girls' platforms thudded against the wooden floor of the bridge, sighing in relief as they crossed the bridge. Andrew gave her a look and she tsked. “I don’t like it when I’m not on solid ground. Place makes it fuckin worse cause of how old it is.” Ramona explained.

“Yeah, I get that.” The two students followed their teacher, not thrilled as they took a trail off the side of the road.

The two kept walking, and Andrew decided to test something. “You got an explanation for what we saw?”

“None that makes sense. I do know there were witch trials in Little Hope around the same time as Salem.” John’s voice was low, sheer disdain in his voice that made Ramona feel a chill run down her spine, “You can figure out what happened for yourself.”.

_ Damn, Ramona was starting to believe Taylor’s theory more and more. Good thing she didn’t leave Andrew alone with him. _

As horrifying as this place was, at least the view was nice. Ramona stopped for a moment, looking at the water and the trees around them. There were no ghostly whispers or strange noises in the woods, just the sound of the stream and the sound of the wind brushing against the branches. It was just like home…

“Never took you as a ‘stop and smell the roses’ kind of person.” Andrew said, joining her.

“I love the outdoors, Freshman. I was pretty much born in Anchorage, prettiest whites and green shades all around.” She gave a heavenly sigh at the memories, “Don’t even get me started on the Aurora Borealis. ‘Era el cielo en la tierra’ or ‘Heaven on earth’. It was gorgeous. My mother and I always did hikes through the snow and looked for the best place to find the Aurora. I miss it all the time so I’m taking a minute to appreciate how pretty Little Hope.” Ramona explained.

“Never took you for the sentimental type.” Andrew said.

“Not a feelings person, but hey… I wanna appreciate the view when I can.” Ramona sighed softly.

Andrew looked at her for a moment, debating if he should probe. They weren’t… exactly friends but the two did talk a few times for class. Ramona seemed to have also kinda taken him under her wing since all of this started. Fuck, guess he was going to chance it, after all what was the worst that would happen if he asked? “Hey, Ramona. Why do you hate Daniel so much? He’s a nice guy, plus you two have been family for what? A year now.”

“He isn’t my family, pendejo.” Ramona scowled, her mood instantly soured, “And it’s none of your business on what goes one between us.”.

“Fine, fine. Just… you two. You should talk, okay? I’m sure that if the two of you talked, you’d have a lot in common.” Andrew explained.

There was a moment of silence, Andrew had expected her to yell at him but instead the woman sighed, shaking her head. “Come on, if we don’t catch up now the Professor is gonna blow a fuse.” Ramona said, heading up the hill after John. She wouldn’t say it to him, but she agreed to give his words some thought. 

_ Maybe it was time that they finally talked it out… _

“Finally, I thought you two got lost.” John said. “We’re coming, we're coming.” When the professor turned around the woman flicked him off, baring her well manicured indigo nails. Andrew rolled his eyes at her, following after the girl.

After some walking down the trail, the three approached a shed. A faint noise was made and the two students watched unamused as John bolted. Taking his flashlight, Andrew slowly made his way into the shed, searching around for the source of the noise. The chair in the corner moved and a cat ran out. “Looks like there’s two pussycats that ran from this shed.” Ramona snorted, following Andrew in.

As Andrew searched around, Ramona decided to steal the magic book for fun. Come at her ghost, she was scared but come on. How often did you get to fuck with the ghosts from Salem times? If she was gonna die anyway here, might as well have fun right.

“Hey, look what I found. I found it under the floor.” Andrew walked over, pulling a gun from pockets.

“Damn, nice find, Freshman.” Ramona took the gun a bit, observing it with a smirk, “Shooting is one of my hobbies, you know?”. Checking over what type it was, she eventually held it back out to him, “You hold onto it, you might need it.”.

“I don’t know how to use it though.” Andrew explained. The older woman rolled her eyes, putting the gun in his hands and stood beside him. “Since you never used one of these before, hold it with both hands. Thing packs a hell of a punch. Here’s the golden rule, DO NOT have your finger on the trigger unless you intend to shoot, got it? And when you're aiming, take a breath before firing, got it?” Ramona explained, showing him how to have a good grip on it and how to reload it in case they found more ammo.

Once their fun gun lesson was over, the two headed uphill and found John waiting. “Some professor you are, running from a little kitty.” Ramona chuckled, getting a scowl from John. She chuckled, following after their professor as they approached the police station. As they walked, she gave a silent thumbs up to Andrew. She wouldn’t tell about the gun if he didn’t.

“This place is our best shot. There must be a radio or working phone inside, maybe even our drive too.” John explained.

Sweet, busting into the police station. This was certainly amusing. It took some wandering but eventually they found a rock and bust through the window. “This trip just got more interesting. Who knew our creative writing professor would be teaching us about how to break into police stations.” Ramona grinned, hopping through the window.

While those three were exploring the police station, Daniel, Taylor, and Angela were wandering around Little Hope for some way out. The damned fog was so thick it was impossible to see anything. The only problem was that despite their best efforts, it seemed like there really was no way out. They had wandered as far as they could, even reached the middle school but the fog really was blocking them off.

“Come on, we’ll find another way.” Daniel said, heading down the path with the other two. The three of them crossed the bridge, approaching an abandoned park. They were nearly out of there when they heard something. The three turned around to see the same little girl, watching her run into the tube.

_ Damnit, children really were evil little bastards here. _

Daniel approached the tube, cautiously crouching down in front of it. “Hey! Are you okay?” Daniel asked, what the hell was a kid doing all the way out here? The girl backed away, not responding to them.

“This is the same little girl we saw before, but she’s wearing new clothes.” Angela nervously said, making sure to keep her distance.

Just as Daniel reached out for the girl, a ghostly version latched onto his arm screaming. Taylor grabbed onto him in panic, resulting in her being brought in as well. The two gasped, looking around and realized that they were someplace completely different. “Tell me that didn’t just happen.” She gasped, standing behind Daniel.

“Quiet now! I will not be caught!” Mary whispered out loud, remaining hidden in a barrel. “What are you talking about?” Daniel asked, trying to get her out of the barrel. “Go away or he will find me!” Mary gasped, looking as the Reverend showed up.

Taylor and Daniel were stuck watching as the Reverend spoke to the girl, threatening her into silence over some secret. Daniel attempted to help but that only made matters worse now that the Reverend understood that they were there somehow. God, they could feel them and here them? 

_ What the hell was going on?! _

Mary wasted no time accusing Amy of doing witchcraft, the two watching as the Reverend pulled her away. Shit, something seriously wrong was going on here. They needed to find the others and get the hell out of here. Taylor still had a really bad feeling about the professor… but it seemed like it was the only way they had a chance of getting out of this hell hole.

The three of them wandered around for some time, searching for any way out. Things were making less and less sense as they tried to find the others again, even cutting through a store. That was where the strangest occurrence was.

While Daniel climbed through the store, he was subjected to another vision. Amy and her husband Joseph, who looked a lot like John but a completely different look. Something that surprised him was that another girl entered the room. She was the spitting image of Ramona minus the lack of dark make up, tattoos, and dyed purple hair. 

The three of them were speaking, tensing when they heard a knock on the door. He knew that it had to be John’s double, similar to what Angela had seen… but something about this felt different.

Shit, they needed to find the others. He was starting to have some serious questions about all of this.

Andrew climbed into the police department after Ramona, all of them looking for any sign of a phone. “There’s gotta be a phone around here someplace.” John explained, the three of them splitting up.

Similar to the rest of Little Hope, there wasn’t a single light to be seen, relying on what little phone battery they had left and their flashlights. They’d have to thank Ramona’s dad later for being so insistent on her always carrying batteries and a flashlight now. “I really don’t think we’ll find anything here. The only thing that’s been alive in this entire damn town was that cat that you ran from.” Ramona stated, dusting some dirt off of her ripped jeans. “I’m going to take a fucking hour long bath after this, I’m covered in so much ick.” Ramona groaned, continuing to search around.

The three searched around the police station and were stopped by a phone ringing that scared the hell out of all of them. Andrew was the first to reach the phone, taking a shaky breath as he picked it up. “Be careful.” John warned, still concerned for the boy as the bruise seemed darker than it had earlier. Andrew picked up the phone, listening as there was a frantic voice on the other line. “What can you hear?” John’s voice was low again, it hurt. He recognized that voice from anywhere.

“A woman. She sounds real upset.”

“I’d be upset too if I had to live in this place.” Ramona said, getting a glare from John. “Tell them to calm down, if they don’t relax, we won’t get anything.” John explained.

Seeing as they would get nothing, Andrew set the phone down, jumping as a ghostly woman shrieked, gripping his wrist firmly. All of them were pulled in, the two students looking around in shock to find themselves in a trial room. “Oh fuck, what the fuck is this?” Ramona gasped, looking around. What the fuck? Why the hell did those two have Taylor and Daniel’s faces?!

While the two students were confused and scared, John was stuck staring forward as the Reverend spoke to Mary. The man’s fist trembled with rage, his blood boiling. God damnit, it was happening again. No, damnit!

Amy stood at the center of the court, pleading innocence when the Reverend silenced her. “What should we do?” Ramona was genuinely shaken now that she had seen it for herself, looking at their professor, praying he’d say something. Instead John stared, intense anger rippling through the man. “Andrew, what do we do?”

“We should… we should stay quiet, see what happens.” Andrew whispered, not used to being asked for guidance.

The trial continued on, Amy trying fruitlessly to prove her innocence but Carver was having none of it. The students' shock had only grown once Joseph appeared, defending his wife which did nothing in the end. Ramona’s eyes widened seeing her double show up behind Joseph, saying something about mother?!

“What the fuck is going on? John, why the fuck aren’t you saying anything?!” Ramona exclaimed. 

As accusations continued around, the trial took a turn when Mary stood with a scream and collapsed to the floor. Andrew tried going forward, but Ramona pulled him back, shaking her head. It was clear that this was a set up, Reverend demanding that Amy lay her hands upon Mary and cure her. His trick was working though, as the crowd was enraged and demanded for the woman’s head.

“The little brat is lying! Leave her alone!” John suddenly shouted, startling everyone in the courtroom. God, they could hear them now?!

Amy was forced to kneel besides Mary, lying her hand on the girl and the shaking stopped. “No!” Amy pleaded.

John watched in rage as Amy was taken away, the environment returning back to normal. “DAMNIT!!!” The man screamed, throwing the file cabinet down making the other two jump.

“Calm the fuck down, John!” Ramona screamed, Andrew standing behind her shocked.

“That damned brat knew what she was doing!!! Faking that seizure to accuse that woman! She knew exactly what she was doing, she had the woman tried! That brat took perverse pleasure in poisoning her community.” John shouted. 

_ Damnit, he supposed to stop this! _

Andrew cautiously stepped towards their teacher, looking at the man, “I noticed something else weird. Her husband, he looked a lot like you, professor.”

“So what? The two people with that little brat looked like Taylor and Daniel. The girl standing by my double even looked like Ramona.” John shrugged off their worries, his anger had only been brought back seeing that fucking brat and that bastard Carver. He was running out of time, he needed to stop this!

A sudden knock on the front door caught their attention, relaxing once they realized that it was Taylor’s voice. John walked ahead, ignoring the two looking at each other. It took all of them to get the door forced open, but eventually they did. “Find anything that could get us out of here?” Andrew asked, just wanting to get the hell out of here.

“Nah, big fat nothing back there.” Daniel replied. “Just a pile of junk.” Taylor added.

“We really are fucked.” Ramona groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose before looking at Angela, “Your double. She got accused of witchcraft and tried. Most likely she won’t make it, the witch trials were brutal.”.

“We need to find out what happened to that woman. I suggest we take the-” “No, John.” The professor stopped, turning to see it was Angela that had spoken. “No what?” Damnit, he didn’t have time for this.

Angela let out a shaky breath looking at him, “I’m starting to think the others are right. Something’s wrong here and you're not telling us about it.”

“Angela, we don’t have time-”

“Bullshit. We need to discuss this. Ever since we’ve been here you have been acting beyond weird. You’re acting crazy and getting so angry over nothing! You knew way too much about this shithole town and it’s way to convient that you took us on a field trip to find the passion of our story and you know so much!” Taylor snapped out.

“That and when I got pulled into one of those vision things, Angela’s double looked exactly like you. You're the one that’s been continuously pushing us towards town.” Daniel stated.

“And when we first saw my double…. You shouted her name before we ever heard it. You grabbed her wrist and told her to stop! The way you acted, you knew her.” Angela explained.

“Then there was your fucking blow up back there! After Amy got tried you flipped your shit and wanted to fucking hunt down that little girl!” Ramona shouted.

Andrew had been the only one that hadn’t said something as this point, looking at John with a shaky gaze. “Is… is all of this true?” Was all he could ask, his voice wavering.

The man was enraged but it boiled down, shit, there was no way out of this. He was caught. Sighing out loud the man looked at them all, deciding the only thing to do was tell them the truth. “Yes, you’re all right. I knew much more about this then I alluded to. I know so much about this place because… I’m from Little Hope. But not this time, I lived in Little Hope during the 17th century.” John explained.

All of them stared at the man stunned, they had suspected something was off… but this?

“I’m well a witch. As off as it sounds, it’s true. I have been since I was born, I survived the witch trials here and left, seeking to just live a new life. The problem was I kept living. It was a curse, for what I didn’t know. I had almost given up hope on it ever ending and then I met you all. At that moment I understood, stopping what happens here could be the only way I ever end this.” John sighed, looking at all of them, “So I brought you all to Little Hope. Keeping us trapped here with the fog. I couldn’t let anyone leave, not when I was so close to stopping all of this.”.

“So you brought us here to sacrifice us?! All for what, some chance you had at bringing back your wife and you being normal?!” Taylor shouted.

“That was not my intention!” John snapped back.

“But if we had to die… then what?” It was Andrew that spoke, looking at John with an unreadable expression, “Would you have killed us?”.

John was silent, unable to say. He had grown closer then he wanted to with his students, but what about his poor Amy? She would die again if he didn’t stop this… but was it really worth all the sacrifice? His heart was torn, not knowing what to say or choose.

“There’s his choice then. Come on, we all have to get the hell out of here.” Daniel said, heading towards the police station.

“Hey!” John shouted, damnit, they couldn’t leave!

Seeing their teacher stepping forward, Ramona took the gun from Andrew’s pockets and pointed it at the professor, startling everyone. “We’re leaving this hellhole and if you try keeping us here any longer, I swear to god I will put one right between your eyes!” Ramona shouted, putting her finger on the trigger to show that she wasn’t joking around, “Our lives matter too! We are alive, she’s been dead for over three hundred years! We’re getting out of here without you!”.

Seeing as this was their chance, Daniel took Taylor’s hand and headed towards the bridge. Ramona stayed in place while the others left, glaring at their teacher. 

Andrew stood behind her, a look of heartbreak clear on his face as he looked at John. Was this really him…? Was really the same professor he had learned to trust and felt safe with? Was this really the professor he told about his father too..? “Come on…” Angela gently took Andrew’s arm, making him follow her. Once those two were gone, Ramona glared at the professor one last time before running after them.

John stood in his place, watching the five of them vanish into the fog. The man dropped to the floor holding his head, it was all ruined, everything… his chances of finding Amy… and his chances of moving on to be a part of this class. Now he had ruined them both…

_ So much death and pain… all for what? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ouch, god that hurt to write.  
> Also some notes:  
> \- Rosemary (Ramona's double) is not Amy and Joseph's daughter. She is Amy's niece, her parents died of an illness  
> \- No, Ramona and Andrew won't be a couple. She just views him as a sweet and awkward little brother  
> \- Ramona's dad and Daniel's mom are marred. Her mother is living in the Dominican Republic again and his father passed away in an accident


	7. Demons of Our Past

The group made their way down the road, trying to get out of there as fast as they could. “God, I can’t believe this shit…” Andrew muttered, looking back as they all headed down the road. “Come on, we have to keep going. This way has to be the way out.” Taylor grimaced.

After a while of walking they eventually reached a broken up bridge, crossing it would be there only way out. “Shit…” Daniel nervously swallowed, looking over.

Ramona noticed his hesitance and sighed to herself. Guess she shouldn’t be surprised by why he was afraid of the water. No point in telling them about it, even if she didn’t like him it wasn’t her thing to tell. “I’ll go first. Make sure that it’s stable weight wise.” Ramona said, returning Andrew’s gun to him before walking towards the bridge, taking cautious steps.

The rest waited anxiously, relieved as the bridge seemed to hold. “Come on, it’s secure enough. We gotta get the hell out of here!” Ramona shouted, leaping across the first ledge. They needed to hurry, who knew if John would try coming back for them.

Seeing that Ramona had gotten across with ease, Daniel followed after her. Giving him a bit, Taylor followed after him, clinging to the side of the bridge as they made their way across. 

“Just got one at a time, it should be able to hold!” Ramona shouted, holding out a hand as Daniel finally made his way across. He gripped her hand, taking a shaky breath as he was pulled onto the safety of the road, resting his hands on his knees as he took deep breaths. “You okay?” Ramona asked, it seemed genuine to his surprise. Guess Andrew’s words were really getting to her… “Yeah… I’m okay… thanks.” Daniel gave her a thankful look before standing back up to help Taylor across.

_ None of the others knew, but several years ago he had lost his dad in a boating accident. Ever since the water terrified him.’ _

Ramona patted his back before looking forward to see Andrew and Angela, her eyes widening in horror as the fog picked up once more, completely blocking them from sight. “No!” She shouted in vain, as it was already too late. “Oh god, where’d they go?!” Taylor exclaimed.

Angela let out a terrified gasp as the fog picked up, looking around terrified. No matter where they looked the fog separated them from the world around them, the only path they would take was forward and pray that the others would still be on the other side.

With a hesitant step, Andrew moved forward, struggling to see through the fog. The boy reached forward, stepping onto the next part of the bridge. The moment he stepped forward, a ghostly apparition reached forward, latching onto his arm with a shriek. The scare nearly made Andrew fall but Angela quickly grabbed his other arm, resulting in them both being brought into the vision.

A pained hiss left Andrew, the boy clutching his wrist as the bruise had looked much darker and bigger then it had beforehand. Angela knelt down beside him worried, but gasped as she looked up at the scene before them.

Amy stood on the pier, struggling to stand as her body was bound with chains. The Reverend was rambling on about the year and scenario that they were in, but they knew it was all bullshit.

“No!” Joseph shouted, being held back by the marshal when they brought up the execution.

“John?” Angela gasped, Daniel really did see him then!

Amy pleaded for her life, but it did nothing. They refused to listen to anything she said. Andrew let out a shaky breath as he looked at Amy, his body was on fire and his arm hurt like hell, but she was scared. “How… How can I help you? Tell me what I can do...” Andrew rasped out.

“Please sir, you must help me!” Amy begged, reaching out for him, “You must!”.

While Amy saw Andrew and Angela, the rest saw nothing. Carver backed away in horror,staring at the woman “The Devil is in the wind, seeking to help his own. He would release her from the chains! Isaac, let us conclude our business here swiftly. The will of the court must be imposed before it is too late! The devil fortifies her. You must bind her tightly.”.

Joseph attempted to walk forward but the marshal held him back, the man shaking his head angrily. Amy tried accusing Mary, but it proved useless. They had all believed that it was Amy that was the true evil. 

Angela and Andrew gasped as Amy was thrown into the water with a scream, sinking to the ground and vanished from their sight.

After a while the world around them shifted back to normal, Angela gasping as they were brought back to reality. “Oh my god, oh my god they really killed her!” Angela exclaimed, horrified by what she had just witnessed.

A startled gasp filled the air, Angela looking just in time as Andrew’s eyes rolled back and the boy fell to the ground below. “Oh my god, Andrew!” Angela shouted. Sitting down on the ledge, she hopped down and hurried to the boys side. Andrew laid still on dirt, taking labored breaths, his fever had returned and the bruise looked worse then it had beforehand. “Andrew, Andrew wake up!” Angela pleaded, shaking the boy.

“Hey, Angela! Andrew! You guys okay?!” Daniel shouted, struggling to see them even as the fog faded.

“Andrew, you have to get up please!” Angela was a strong woman, but after witnessing her double being executed, it was horrifying! Was that the reason John brought them here? Because of that woman?! God, why wouldn’t he wake up, she couldn’t figure this out on her own! 

Just as was about to shout to the others, a strange noise catching her attention. “W-Who’s there?!” Angela shouted, her eyes widening in terror as some horrifying creature began crawling out of the water, “What are you?!”.

The fog cleared, the other three gasping from their side as the beast clawed out of the water. “What is that thing?!” Taylor exclaimed. “Get the hell out of there!” Daniel shouted, hating that they were completely powerless from their side. “Run dammit!” Ramona screamed.

Angela stood up, grunting as she pulled Andrew towards the ledge of the bridge. Oh god, how was she going to get up there?!

John walked down the streets, letting out an agitated growl as he found himself at the police station again. “Dammit, you live somewhere how long and you can’t even find your own way out!” The fog was no longer in his control either, it kept pushing him back this way. Something else was wrong with this town, damnit…! It wasn’t supposed to go this way!

“HELP! Please, help! Don’t leave me behind! SOMEONE HELP!” A scream caught his attention, John looking back towards the bridge shocked. “Angela?” The screams continued and John was torn. 

Swearing to himself, the man took off towards the bridge. It was his fault that they were there, he had to do this!

Angela screamed in horror as she found herself backed up against the wall, trapped as the monster crawled closer towards her and Andrew. “Oh god, oh god!’ Angela exclaimed, looking over the boy, where was the gun he had?! She saw Ramona give it back to him, where is it?!

“Angela!” The woman looked up shocked to see John rushing over to the edge. John looked down at her, but stopped seeing the beast that was crawling towards him, bound in chains and wearing a familiar dress. God, he had no doubt that it was her… he still couldn’t save her. He failed her… but… he still had the chance to save his students.

Looking down, John was concerned noticing Andrew was unconscious. “Angela, pass him up to me and then I’ll pull you up!” John shouted, leaning over the ledge.

Angela looked back at the monster terrified as it got closer then up to John. Even after what he did and confessed, he was the only way she had a chance of getting out of here alive. “Okay, I trust you!” Angela shouted. 

She really had no choice but to trust him, the woman grunting as she lifted the boy with all her strength. “Come on! You almost got it, Angela!” John shouted, straining to reach for Andrew and pulled him up the second he reached for him. 

Once John had Andrew up, he reached out for Angela, catching her as the woman jumped. Before he could lift her up, Angela let out a scream as Amy threw a chain forward, wrapping firmly around her leg. “Oh god, don’t let me go, please!” Angela shouted, struggling to keep a grip as Amy tried pulling her away.

No, god he couldn’t believe he had to do this! Freeing one hand, John grunted as he focused enough energy to knock Amy back, grimacing hearing her screech. Damnit, he had to focus… that thing was no longer his beloved! 

With a heave, John pulled Angela over the ledge, the two scrambling up to their feet. “Hurry!” John shouted, pulling Andrew up to his feet, letting him lean on them as they ran. Angela gave one last frightened look to the monster before following after John into the woods, praying for some form of safety.


	8. A Fate Worse Then Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There will be some triggering things, as an attempt to kill someone.

The two of them ran from the bridge, eventually stopping on a little trail on the side of the road. “What the hell was that thing back there?!” Angela panted, looking back to make sure that it wasn’t following them.

“I have no clue.” John explained, setting Andrew down, looking over the boy worried as he still hadn’t woken up yet, “What happened to him?”.

“He started having a fever again after we had that vision again. T-Then he just dropped unconscious!” Angela exclaimed, looking over to the two.

John grimaced looking Andrew over, concerned for him. Dammit, he couldn’t stop it. He lost control of this situation… It was clear the chance of saving Amy was gone… he failed her again. The only thing he could do to even try to make up for his constant failures was to make sure he got all of them out. They’d never forgive him, but that was the only thing he could do to make up for all of them.

“We should rest for a bit. At least until Andrew is awake, then we can find the others and try to get out.” John explained, looking around, “I don’t think that thing will be getting over here any time soon. Taking a break would be good for us.”.

There was a moment of hesitation for Angela, nervously looking at John then back where they came from. He betrayed them, brought them here… to sacrifice them to fix some past mistake..?! God, it was terrifying but he may have been her only chance of ever escaping this place. It didn’t help that that monster was after her.

Letting out a sigh, the woman nodded, taking a seat on the floor. “When do you think he’ll wake up?” She asked.

“Soon hopefully.” He said, looking at the bruise with concern. Something about this was really wrong, he just wished he knew what this was. Seeing as he wouldn’t be up for a bit, Angela closed her eyes allowing herself to rest. Hopefully getting some rest would help, after that they’d have to get the hell out of here as fast as they could.

Sometime had passed, how long John couldn’t tell, but eventually the man woke up. Stretching, he looked around and quickly realized only Angela was still there. “Andrew? Andrew?” The man stood up, looking around for any sign of the boy. Being careful not to wake up Angela, John got up and began searching around for any sign of the boy.

It took some time but after searching the trail, John eventually found him, sitting on the fence and staring at the water. Damnit… Taking a deep breath, John approached Andrew. He deserved an explanation and answers to any questions he had.

“Andrew.” The man sighed.

Andrew continued staring at the water, not bothering to look back at the other man. “Andrew, we need to talk.” John sighed.

“We need to talk? So what… you can lie to me some more about caring about us? About getting out of here?” There was an unnatural bitterness in his voice, but John knew he deserved it. It was only fair after all. He was the reason for all of this. Andrew climbed off of the fence post, turning to look at John, his face unreadable in the darkness. “Are you just going to keep lying about caring? Keep lying about how you care about me and the others?” Andrew asked.

“That part wasn’t a lie Andrew.” John grimaced.

“That makes it worse though, right? You care… and yet you were ready to throw our lives away for what? Some past life..? And all for what now? She’s gone… and we’re never going to get out of here alive…” Andrew’s voice was low, the boy was genuinely lost... They were all going to die weren’t they…?

“Andrew that’s not-” John stepped forward and tensed as Andrew pulled the gun out and pointed it at him.

His hand wavered slightly, his finger inching towards the trigger.  _ Here’s the golden rule, DO NOT have your finger on the trigger unless you intend to shoot, got it?  _ A shaky breath left Andrew, trying to cool the shaking of his hand.

“Andew, please calm down. Don’t do something that you’ll regret.” John said, holding up his hands.

“Something that I’ll regret…?! What I regret is trusting you! That’s what I regret! You kept saying we’d find a way out, that we’d be safe! But that was all a lie…! It was all a lie John!” Andrew shouted, his voice trembling along with his hands, the gun shaking as he cried. It had been so long since he had let out this much emotion. He hadn’t cried this hard since his dad left him, he didn’t even cry this hard when he had to say goodbye to his sister. 

_ God, why did it hurt so much..?! _

John grimaced seeing how devastated Andrew was, taking a cautious step forward with his hands up. “Andrew, I’m sorry! I really am! What I did to all of you wasn’t right. But I promise you I will get everyone out of here alive. It’s the least I can do after everything that I’ve put you through. I promise… I promise we’re going to get out of here, just believe in me. Those things will not hurt you or any of the others.” John said, taking another step towards him.

_ He’s lying… fire. _

A shaky whimper left Andrew, tears rolling down his cheeks as he stared at the man before him, “Liar. We’re all going to die… I’m not going to let this town take me.”.

John’s eyes widened in horror as Andrew turned the gun onto himself, pressing the barrel of the gun against his temple. “ANDREW!” The man screamed, running faster then he thought he could go and lifted his hand up. The gun suddenly faced upward, firing into the air making Andrew flinch from the blaring noise in his ear. John rushed forward, knocking Andrew to the ground, sending the gun to the ground.

To prevent him from reaching for the gun, John pulled the boy close, securely wrapping his arms around him as he rocked him back and forth. “We’re gonna be okay. You’re gonna be okay. You’re gonna be okay. It’s gonna be okay, it’s gonna be okay.” John whispered, holding the sobbing boy tightly. Andrew sobbed weakly, soon giving in and clinging to John as he sobbed. 

Hearing the bang had woken up Angela, the woman rushing over and was shocked by the sight. Andrew weakly crying as he clung to John, John softly whispering apologies as he held him. Seeing Angela run over, John gave a silent nod.

_ He was going to make this up… he’d get them out of here. He had to make this right. For all of them and for Andrew. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a really rough chapter to do. A lot had been realized in this portion. John understands the consequences of his selfish behavior and must stop this, prevent another generation from dying because of his choices. Even if they will never forgive him, he needs to make things right. Make them right for Andrew and his students.  
> Sorry if the Andrew scene was triggering at all. It was just such a hellish situation, added on with the betrayal of another father figure that broke him.


	9. Fire, Air, and Water

“You good now?” John asked, helping Andrew up to his feet. The boy gave a shaky nod, Angela walking over worried. “Just give him a bit.” John said, kneeling down to pick up the gun, “Hold onto this, will you?”.

Angela hesitated for a moment as John held out the weapon to her, swallowing as she took it. “I still don’t get why we have to keep this thing.” She bitterly remarked, tucking the weapon into her pants.

“We can discuss this later, we’ve sat around for too long now.” John simply said, leading the way down the path. Great, back to the alpha male act despite everything. She hated it but it was their only chance of possibly finding a way out of this nightmare. Making sure that Andrew was in front of her, the woman followed after the two.

The other three continued down the road, Ramona looking back with a grimace. “Shit, do you think that thing got them?” She asked, stopping to look back down the road.

“I’m sure they got out, but we have to keep going before that thing comes after us.” Taylor explained, continuing after Daniel until she noticed that her best friend wasn’t following them, “Ramona?”.

The tattooed woman swore under her breath, shaking her head as she looked at the two of them. “I gotta go back. It doesn’t sit right leaving them back there with that thing. I gotta go help them.” Despite the short time here and how little they talked in classes, Andrew had become a close friend of hers.

Taylor grimaced at the thought, frowning as Daniel approached Ramona. Daniel stared at his stepsister for a moment before taking the flashlight from his pocket and held it out to her, “There’s a church down this road past the museum. Spotted it on the map, when you're over there you should be able to find a way to cross over and meet us there.”. Ramona was about to take the flashlight, when she felt a squeeze on her shoulder, “And be careful.”.

“Yeah… don’t die pendejo.” Ramona gave a small nod before turning around and sprinted back to the bridge. Hurrying back over to the bridge, Ramona cautiously crossed it, cursing as the ground broke behind her, the fog now blocking her from going back towards Taylor and Daniel. “Mierda. You better be around here, Andrew.” Hopping off the bridge, she climbed over a fence and headed down the trail.

John led the way, remembering which trail led where. Seemed this place had been completely abandoned not long after all the factories shut down, it wasn’t surprising though, it completely destroyed the economy. Made sense why everyone left afterward, no jobs equals no money. The only person left in this god forsaken town was Vince.

_ Guess he didn’t really have to worry about him anymore since they all knew now. _

The three of them continued down the path when they heard a twig snapping behind them. “What was that?” Angela gasped. John took a step forward, ensuring the two were behind him as he looked. 

A rustling was heard again and John lifted up his hands ready to attack when a familiar figure stumbled out of the trees. “Ramona?” Andrew questioned.

“Holy shit, you’re-” Finally, some good news! Especially after that damned nightmare of seeing that bastard Priest accusing her double.Ramona’s thankful expression instantly faded at the fight of John, a scowl growing on her face, “What the fuck is this bastard doing here?! Did you make that thing attack them?! Andrew, Angela, come-!”

“Ramona.” Andrew cut her off, his voice still shaky as he looked at her, “He… I get it, you're pissed. I am too. But… John’s our only chance of getting the hell out of here. Once we’re out we can all discuss it as a group.”.

Ramona grimaced, looking at the other boy and took in his appearance. He seemed so pale and almost drained of life. This place was doing hell to him and judging by that monster, things seemed to only be getting worse around them. Her fists trembled as she looked at John, wanting so badly to throw the bastard into the river to run, but Andrew was right. This was their only chance of getting out of here. “Fine, but I’m keeping the gun in case he tries anything.” She said, glaring at John.    
  


“Good, I want this thing away from me.” Angela said, handing the gun to her. Ramona was confused by this, knowing she did give it back to Andrew. 

Deciding it was best not to ask about it, Ramona tucked the gun into her pants. “Let’s get the fuck out of her. But before we do.” Ramona turned around, raising her fist back and struck him right in the jaw. 

“Ramona!” Angela scowled.

Ramona could care less at this point, taking Andrew’s hand, “Hurry up you two, we’re meeting Taylor and Daniel at the church.”.

John sat up, wincing as he held his cheek. Angela offered him a hand but the man shook his head, wincing as he stood back up. “No, I deserve that. They have every right to be angry. Come on, we need to meet up with the other two. All of us together is better than us being in groups.” John said, following after the two.

“While I don’t think the violence is necessary, you do deserve it. You brought us here intending for us to die for some past version of ourselves that are long gone! It’s irredeemable.” Angela coldly said.

“No one was supposed to die, okay? I lost control of the situation, none of this was supposed to happen.” John stated.

“Is that supposed to make it any better?” Angela scoffed, walking ahead to join the others.

Some time had passed since Ramona had left, Taylor getting worried over her friend. “Hey, she’s going to be okay. Ramona knows how to handle herself.” Even if the two didn’t get along, Daniel knew she could handle herself. Hobbies that involved shooting and being in ROTC made sure of that. Hell, her dad even gave him some lessons when he first started dating his mom.

Taylor was still anxious but gave a small nod, following Daniel inside of the museum. “God, talk about creep city.” Taylor grimaced, just praying they wouldn’t have another vision or something while wandering around. When they were checking out the house they had gotten pulled into one by Joseph. It felt so simple, Tabitha taking a doll away from Mary for her own safety but they had a feeling that it was so much more than that.

The museum held many interesting clues of the 17th century, filling in more blanks for them. “God… this was such a fucked up time period.” Taylor grimaced.

“Yeah… Can’t say I blame John after what they did to his wife back then.” Daniel remarked, remembering the sight of Amy being taken from her home.

“Are you kidding me? That asshole is the reason he was here. I was fucking right about him!” Taylor stated.

“Yeah, but maybe he really didn’t mean for any harm to come to us. I mean he just sounds like a guy who genuinely misses his wife and wanted some way to bring her back. Maybe get some payback on the people that accused her.” Daniel defended.

An agitated scoff left Taylor, the girl shaking her head, “I can’t believe this right now. Let’s get out of here already, this place is giving me the creeps.”. Daniel sighed, shaking his head as he followed her out of the museum.

Ramona and Andrew walked a bit ahead of the other two, crossing the bridge. “Fuck, I can’t see anything through this damned fog.” Ramona bitterly remarked, her flashlight was barely doing anything at this point. Andrew nervously looked at her, the woman brisk walking to keep a good distance between them and John, one hand holding a flashlight and the other armed with the gun. “Is that necessary?” He asked.

His words made her stop, the woman shaking her head as she looked at him. “Andrew, John cannot be trusted. What’s to say that he won’t lead us to more of those things or that he didn’t make them?” She asked, watching his reaction closely, “We cannot risk it. Right now he might be our only way out, but he could also be the very reason we can’t leave.”.

It left a bad feeling in his chest, he wished that it wasn’t true, but she might be right… Still if it was the truth, why did John do so much to save his life? It just confused him more.

“Come on, I know you're smarter than that freshmen.” Ramona said, “You’re smarter and braver than a lot of people give you credit for.”.

“You clearly don’t know me that well then.” Andrew retorted.

A surprising snort left Ramona, the woman looking at him, “I guess, but I’ve learned a hell of a lot about you during this shit fest. You’re a kid who doesn’t have a lot of back bone but deep down can kick ass. Doesn’t stop you from being a nerd though.”.

“Taylor’s the one that plays D&D, not me.”

“Still a nerd.”

“Oh yeah, if you’re so good at this then what else have you figured out?”

“Easy, you’re totally a virgin.”

Andrew’s face turned beat red at this sudden statement, he knew that Ramona had quite an explicit vocabulary but to go out and just say something like that was insane. She let out another playful snort, looking at the shorter boy before walking up to him, “I’m kidding. Mostly. But I for one refuse to let you die without trying something.”.

Before Andrew could interject, Ramona leaned down a bit and kissed him on the cheek, leaving him stunned. A soft left Ramona as she backed away, staring at him. 

She wouldn’t say it, knowing it would trigger the boy, but she could easily guess what he had been through… and what he attempted due to Angela having the gun earlier. Andrew had plenty of bravier buried deep down, but he was still just a kid who had had his heart broken so many times over. Everyone knew how close him and John had become on this trip, the reveal was heartbreaking. That and the terrible situation they found themselves in it only felt right to give him some form of hope.

“Getting that mouth kiss is up to you, Freshman. Gotta find the right girl or boy.” Ramona said, patting his shoulder.

The moment of peace had abruptly ended as a ghostly spirit walked down the path, grabbing onto them both. “Shit!” Ramona exclaimed, not happy to be back in this situation. 

A gasp of pain left Andrew, the boy curling up on the cold ground as his body felt like it was on fire again, his wrist stinging once more. “Andrew, Andrew?!” Ramona was at his side, looking up with a startled gasp as she looked around, recognizing so many faces, John, Andrew, and even herself.

Rosemary struggled against her binds, whimpering, tied to a wooden beam and standing on a pile of hay. “Please, I beg of you! I hold no ill blood or evil lies!” The woman pleaded.

_ Shit, it was just like Amy’s death all over again… _

Snow dropped for the sky, leaving a bitter chill around them, but that would not last as the Marshall approached the woman with a torch. “Following in her keeper’s footsteps, Rosemary practiced in the art of witchcraft. Following the family legacy to bring Satan’s evil upon Little Hope!” Carver explained, before turning to the Marshal with a nod.

A shrill cry filled the air as the torch was tossed down, the hay setting ablaze in a matter of moments. Andrew turned away, not wanting to watch, feeling the heat against his face. Ramona was stuck staring in shock, witnessing her double being burnt alive. Once again Joseph was forced to witness a member of his family fall victim to false accusations, everything within him struggling to hold in his anger and powers. After what felt like hours the screaming stopped, and when Andrew and Ramona opened their eyes, they were back in their normal time.

“We… we need to get the fuck out of here.” Ramona helped Andrew to his feet, the two running back to see where Angela and John were.

Taylor and Daniel had left the museum some time ago, but the horror did not leave any time soon, keeping a firm grasp on them. As the couple made their way down the road, Taylor came upon a familiar sight. A tire swing that had been made by her and her father. 

_ What the hell was even going on?! _

To make matters worse, they were forced to witness Tabitha’s execution as well. Being blamed for the poppet that Mary had earlier. The Marshal began pulling the rope up, Tabitha struggling helplessly and Daniel even tried reaching out for her. Mary looked away from her brother, turning to watch which Abraham quickly noticed. Trying to hide the image from her mind, Taylor hid her face in Daniel’s shirt, praying for it to end.

And finally it did, Taylor terrified knowing this meant that she was next. It only made sense, Angela’s double had died and a monster chased her. Keeping forward, they hoped that it was over. But they quickly realized that it wasn’t, in fact things were just getting started as they realized that they were being followed.

The two hurried down the road, running as fast as they could from the monster. Despite how far or fast the two ran, it felt like that thing was always right behind them, keeping it’s haunting pace. “Keep moving, go!” Taylor shouted, continuing to run with Daniel, gasping in horror as it was still close behind.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long to find them, finding them at the bridge that they had crossed earlier. “Took your time. Old people are so slow.” Ramona said.

John ignored her comment, noticing how Andrew looked more sickly, concern filling him. “Are you okay? Did you see another vision?” John asked. He had to guess that’s what was making him ill. After all he only got that bruise when Mary grabbed him. But if that was the case, why was only Andrew getting ill when he was grabbed?

Andrew’s mouth felt dry but he forced himself to talk, giving a weak nod, “Yeah… They executed Ramona’s double.”.

“Rosemary…” John grimaced, “After her parents died… Amy and I took her in, raising her since she was little. She had practically been our own, which was nice… since we couldn’t have children of our own.”.

“Great, a universe where John and Angela raise me. Fantastic.” Ramona scoffed, yeah it sucked about everyone John had lost, still didn’t make it right what he did.

The three looked at each other, a strong tension filling the group. “What happened? What did I miss?” Angela asked, making her way across the bridge to finally join them when the board behind her went flying off, chains shooting from the water and latching onto her legs freaking the three out. 

“Angela!” Andrew shouted, about to follow.

Ramona was ready to run after them when something struck her in the back, making her fall forward with a yell. Andrew looked back in time to see the burnt monster come from the woods, striking Ramona in the back with the burnt podium, slicing through the back of her shirt and cutting it.

Struggling up onto all fours, Ramona tried getting up to run but screamed as the monster grabbed onto her leg, burning it as it pulled her back. The searing feeling was agonizing, crying out as she tried to reach for the gun that had fallen out of her hand.

“Oh god, help me!” Angela screamed as she was being pulled towards the water, John just barely grabbing onto her arms, struggling to pull her free.

Andrew looked back and forth between the two, not knowing who to help. Seeing the gun on the floor, Andrew picked it up, looking between the two of them conflicted on who to choose.

Seeing that John was helping Angela, Andrew aimed the gun at the burning monster that still has Ramona. His vision was swimming as he struggled to focus with his body on fire, his hands trembling as he fired, his ears ringing again.

The burning creature let out a shriek, but pulled on her leg tighter making Ramona scream. Seeing as the gun wasn’t working, Andrew rushed over, bracing himself for pain as hurried and shoved the beast the best he could singing his forearm a bit. As bad as it hurt, it worked, stunning the monster long enough for Ramona to kick off it’s hand. 

Now free, Ramona stumbled onto her feet wincing, taking Andrew’s hand and running down the path. Just in time too as John had managed to free Angela from Amy once again, the two adults chasing after them. “The church is just down this road, hurry!” John shouted, not daring to look back at the horrific monsters that were once people had cared dearly for.


	10. Around Every Corner

Seeing as their monsters were still pursuing them, both groups kept running until they eventually heard familiar shouts. “Daniel?! Taylor?” Andrew called out as they ran closer to the church, the couple rushing through the fog. 

“Go, it’s right behind us!” Taylor exclaimed. Seeing her monster in the distance, the group rushed towards the church. “Block the door!” Angela shouted.

Slamming the door shut behind them, Daniel got to work using a pew to block the door. He was surprised when John came over to help, but knew now was not the time for this, the two grunting as they blocked off the door. “Will that hold it off?” Taylor asked in a panic, jumping as there was a knock on the door, “Fuck! It’s coming to kill us!”.

“Hey!” A voice called out, startling them all.

“Vince?” John questioned. God, he had almost forgotten about him in all this chaos. Shit, what would they do?

Shit, they were locked in here, now that guy from earlier was right outside along with those monsters. “What do we do?” Angela asked.

They all looked at each other trying to come up with a plan when suddenly Taylor stepped forward. Daniel tried reaching out for her, but she gently nudged his hand away. “Trust me on this.” She whispered, approaching the door, pulling the pew back a bit to open the door up enough to see Vince through the other side. 

_ Something about this guy felt really familiar, it must’ve had to do with a past version of herself. _

As the door opened, Vince visibly relaxed seeing her, she looked so much like Tanya he loved but so different at the same time. “Tanya?” He asked.

Taylor gently shook her head, “I’m sorry, I’m not her. But I’m… I was her I guess. I know this might sound crazy, but we are reincarnations of these people from a long ass time ago, meaning we may be reincarnations of other people. Multiple timelines and shit.”.

“You all died in that fire 48 years ago… yet here you are, back in my life… but… your not her.” He frowned, thankfully not freaking out over this. 

A gentle sigh left Taylor, nodding at the man. “I’m sorry. If I could explain this, I would. But we need to get out of here, we’re in danger. There are these monsters everywhere, they’re hunting us down!” Taylor explained, gasping in horror as she spotted her not far behind them, “Oh my god, there it is!”.

Vince turned around, in fact seeing the horrifying beast. “The fuck is that?!” He shouted.

“I don’t know, but it’s been after us this entire time, they’re trying to kill us!” Taylor exclaimed.

Hearing that made Vince tense, memories of the fire filling the house, having only been gone for minutes and he lost his love. Even if this wasn’t his version of her, a part of it was her. Nodding, Vince looked at the monster that floated it’s way over, before looking back at Tanya. “Go, all of you, now! I’ll hold them back for as long as I can.” Vince stated.

“Wait, what? Are you kidding me? That thing will fucking kill you!” Taylor pleaded, but the man ignored her. “Just get out of here, alright?” Vince said, before putting something in her hands, “Go!”.

Taylor gasped as the door was slammed shut before her, shaking as she opened her hands, finding a sun charm in her hands. Why did this look familiar? Hearing yelling outside, Taylor hurried towards the others. “We need to go now, he’s holding them off as long as he can.” Taylor stated, looking back at the door with a frown. She didn’t even remember who he was yet he was willing to protect her still.

“Then let’s go, Daniel’s double just died, and we know what that means.” Andrew stated.

“Where can we even go? John clearly had no fucking clue what’s going on!” Ramona stated, scowling at John.

The man grimaced to himself, looking outside the church, watching a familiar child runoff in the distance. “Something tells me we’re going to have to witness what else these doubles have for all of you.” John remarked.

“Is that necessary? You’re from that time.” Daniel stated. “Even so, there easily could be things I missed. Things that involve that brat.” John scowled, knowing Mary had to be behind all of this, “We follow that and there has to be an end.”.

That didn’t exactly help any of the others feel better but they were forced to agree. There was nothing they could do to prevent this as much as they hated it, following John was their only chance. Following John outside the back portion of the church, Taylor grimaced hearing Vince shouting in the distance. “Don’t look.” Daniel grimaced, holding her close as they ran outside.

But the horrors were around every corner, a horrifying beast pierced through every body part with iron spikes and rebar limped towards the group. “GO!” Daniel screamed, the group quickly scattering. All of them split into different directions, the monsters coming around from each corner.

Ramona screamed as she rushed past the dumpster, her demon appearing out of the corner knocking her down with the wooden beam. Andrew had already passed into the fog with Angela, losing sight of the other woman. “Ramona?!” He shouted uselessly, him and Angela struggling to see anything past the dense fog.

A shriek filled the air, the demon about to grab onto Ramona when it was struck with a tree branch, Ramona looking up shocked to see it was Daniel. Daniel yelled as he struck it twice more, the branch breaking on it. “Come on!” Daniel helped his stepsister up to her feet, the two of them rushing down the road to the others.

The fog blocked Taylor off from the others, gasping as she looked around for any sign of the others. “Andrew? Daniel?” She called out, unable to find anyone. Shit, where did they go?! Biting her lip, Taylor headed left in the dense fog, praying she’d recognize someone. Heading through the fog, Taylor gasped in terror seeing her demon appear. She tried turning around but it was too late, something shot out and tightly wrapped around her neck.

_ No, God please don’t let this be how it ended! She didn’t want to die!!! _

“Taylor!” John rushed through the fog, spotting her struggling “Get away from her!”. Raising his hand, John sent the beast flying back with a yell. His head pounded violently against his skull, gasping as his head ached from the amount of power he had been using.

Taylor gasped as she was let go, coughing as she regained her breath. Taking a moment to breathe, she was shocked to see that John had saved her. The man leaned on his knees, heavily gasping as he held his chest. Oh, son of a- Swearing, loudly Taylor rushed over to him, helping John up to his feet. “Move your ass!” She shouted, running with John down the road.

Soon enough all of them had reunited on the side of the road, relieved seeing everyone was okay. “I need a moment… I just…” John gasped, leaning on his knees to take a deep breath. 

“I think we should take a break.” Andrew stated, taking a seat on a rock, grimacing as he rubbed the burn mark on his arm. He was glad he managed to save Ramona from her monster but damn did it hurt. Seeing he was hurt, Taylor walked over to check up on him.

Daniel was about to follow when he felt someone grab his hand, making him look back to see Ramona. “Hey… I… I think we should talk.” She said, shooting Andrew a look. The boy gave her a nod, smiling softly at her. Returning the smile, Ramona walked away a bit to talk to Daniel in private. “I... Mierda, I guess… I want to say… thank you. And that I’m sorry.” Ramona bit her lip a bit, it felt so strange to apologize, but it needed to be done, “I’ve been a complete bitch to you this entire time and you have been so patient with me. I just... It's not fair how I treat you. I got this tough bitch attitude, but honestly such a big change scared me. Going from just me and dad to suddenly he was married again. I acted like a child and took it out on you constantly instead of trying to get to know you... I'm sorry, Daniel.”.

This took Daniel off guard, staring at his stepsister surprised. “Look, we might not get along but there is no way I’d let anything hurt you. Even if you don’t see it that way, we are family. And family looks after each other, especially now.” Daniel patted her back, being careful about the wooden scratches.

A soft smile grew on her face, nodding, lifting up her hand giving her a fist bump, “I guess that’s pretty valid. Don’t worry. I got your back too, pendejo.”.

“Yeah, now come on, we should get some rest. We’re gonna have to stay energized to have a chance on getting out of here.” Daniel stated.

Nodding, Ramona headed over to Taylor and sat on the ground beside them, looking at the others. Tucking her hair behind her ears, Ramona leaned back, closing her eyes. Soon enough all of them did. John looked at all of his students with a frown, sighing to himself. God, how did things get this bad? All he wanted was a chance for Amy back, he knows how badly he wanted this but he understood how he let his past destroy his futures many times over.

_ His past already led to the end for the Clarke’s, he couldn’t let it take his students too… he had to make up for this. He couldn’t let his rage be the cause of more deaths. _

Some time had passed and eventually, the others woke up, John relieved as they did. He hadn’t slept, worried for the safety of the others, so it was good now that they were finally up. “Good, let’s keep going. The best place to reach is the factory, it’s certain to have some clues there.” John explained, a solemn look crossing his features at the thought of the factory. The place had brought many bad memories back, thinking to his times as James Clarke.

Anne deserved so much better than she got. He hoped so badly that it was his darling Amy reborn, but Anne was so different compared to him. It wasn’t fair how he treated her because of it. He knew now… as awful as it felt that his darling Amy was just destined to die. So many lives ruined for his obsession to save a past life…

John looked over as Andrew stood up, the boy rubbing his bruise with a grimace. And he understood… maybe his purpose was more than saving the past… maybe it was about saving those important now, ending the cycle of death once and for all.

“What about that Vince guy?” Taylor asked, looking back towards the church with a frown. 

“Vince was a stubborn kid, especially when it came to you. Trust me.” John stated.

Taylor’s frown deepened, looking at the sun charm that Vince gave to her. Even if she didn’t remember him like this, it still felt so wrong to just leave him behind but he had given them a chance to escape, they couldn’t waste it.

Once everyone was up, the group began walking down the path, starting to form a plan. “So, what’s the goal? Keep after that little girl Mary? You did accuse her a lot, your double did too.” Ramona commented, remembering what Taylor told her about her and Daniel meeting Joseph.

“Back then I was certain it was her.” John stated.

“And now?” Angela asked.

There was a momentary silence before John sighed, “I’m not so sure. We will find the truth though, I swear.”

“So your theory is that we’re trapped until we find the truth?” Andrew questioned.

“That’s what I’m guessing. I’m no longer in control of the town, there’s something else going on that we need to find out or we won’t be able to leave. All of your doubles were being executed for witchcraft and so was I. But I was warned by a close friend and ran. I don’t know what happened at the end of it all, but seeing how things are… I know that it clearly didn’t end well. So our best shot is finding out the truth and putting an end to this.” John explained.

“And if we do stop it? Then what?” Daniel asked, looking at the professor.

John stopped before the small ledge, frowning to himself before looking at the group, his eyes landing on Andrew specifically, “After all is said and done I’ll go. Be out of your lives permanently. All I’ve done is bring your past versions pain, the least I can do is stop it. Now come on, I know all of you are eager to go.”.

Not waiting for a response, John climbed down the hill with a grunt. While the others had conflicting opinions on this whole plan, they all followed him down the hill nonetheless. Daniel was the last down, ready to hop down when a spear struck the ground before him, making Daniel fall back with a yell. “RUN!” Ramona shouted, Taylor and Daniel wasted no time running off.

Waiting for Andrew and the two adults, only because Andrew asked her to wait, the two of them headed down the path. “No, not again!” Andrew shouted as the fog took over once again, separating them from the others. “Go! I’ll make sure John and Angela are safe!” Ramona quickly said, urging Andrew forward.

Trusting her, Andrew ran down the path in attempts to search for any sign of Daniel or Taylor. “Taylor? Daniel? Where are you guys?!” He called out, looking for any sign of them. Similar as it had been before, the fog was doing it’s best to separate them all. Grimacing, Andrew ran down the path to search for any sign of the other two, making sure to avoid the root sticking out of the ground. Andrew headed down the path, eventually hopping down a small ledge to search for any sign of the two.

The fog faded much to his relief, seeing the two of them but it morphed into a horrified look the moment he saw David appear behind Danel, striking him in the leg to knock him down. Taylor tried running over to him, but was pulled back as Tabitha grappled her back with her bloated tongue.

“Guys!” Andrew shouted, looking between the two. Damnit, who could he help?! 

Swearing to himself, Andrew rushed over to help Taylor. Daniel was tough, he’d he could hold out for a bit! Rusing forwards Taylor, Andrew struggled to free her from Tabitha’s strong grip. Struggling, Andrew noticed something on the floor, the knife! Letting go, Andrew hastily picked the knife up and slashed at the tongue repeatedly until Taylor was finally free.

Turning around, Andrew saw Ramona hit the demon David with a rock. “That’s right bitch! That’s fucking right!” Ramona grinned before helping her step-brother to his feet, the two of them hurrying after Andrew and Taylor. Once again they had narrowly escaped death, but the four had a sinking feeling that it was only going to get harder from here on out.


	11. As The Truth is Spoken

The group had reunited once again after running, heading down another path to try and get away. “God, it’s just path after path isn’t it?” Taylor groaned, not thrilled in the slightest.

“I’m happy as long as we aren’t being hunted down by those demons anymore.” Ramona said, wincing as he back still stung like hell. “No kidding.” Daniel responded, rubbing his shoulder. God… their parents were going to absolutely lose their shit when they saw them… if they ever actually got out of here.

They headed down the dark path, eventually reaching an old broken down building. John stopped in his path, frowning as he started at it, Angela noticing. “What’s wrong?” She asked.

“This… this was my old home.” John explained. So many memories with his darling Amy and eventually Rosemary, all tragically cut short. Dammit, it wasn’t fair.

“I’m sorry John.” She frowned, it seemed almost genuine.

John sighed to himself, staring at the building as Angela eventually left to take a moment's rest. Andrew instead took her place, looking at it. “Andrew… I’m-” “Not now John, we have more important things that we need to worry about.” Andrew interjected, making the man sigh. He was right. Apologizing now would do nothing in the end, what mattered was getting them out. Shit, why’d he say that..? He… Ramona was probably right, trying to trust John again was only going to hurt more…

Andrew tried walking away but was reeled back, him and John gasping as a ghostly apparition pulled them into another vision. 

The air was frigid, there was no more snow falling but the temperature had definitely dropped. Andrew looked forward, stunned at what he saw. Was this… was this really him? Once again everything around him looked as it did before… before everything happened. John was shocked to find Abraham staring at them, the young man in front of his door. God, he knew what this was.

“My own eyes deceive me.” Abraham gasped, looking at them.

“Abraham, they don’t deceive you, I promise.” John said, “We aren’t demons. I can prove it, because I know you’re here to warn me, my past self, that the Judge intends to execute him.”.

Abraham’s mouth fell open in shock at this. It was true, he had overheard Carver speaking to the judge, discussing Joseph’s fate, he knew he had to warn his friend before it was too late. But no one else had known about this, how could this… apparition claim to know to know what he was intending to say? 

Before he could say anything the front door of the house opened, the three looking as Joseph stepped out. God, it was all just the same as it happened before? Was there any chance of stopping it? No, no they needed to find out the truth. Find out what caused this curse for himself and the other five that were constantly reborn.

“My apologies for the lateness of the hour, but I must speak to you.” Abraham said.

“What ails you my friend?” Joseph questioned.

“I have come with a warning. I overheard the Reverend and Judge speaking. They have you set for execution. These trials trouble us all, but you are next they claim. I intend to speak to the court about what I know of Mary, but I know that you are innocent. Little Hope is not safe and neither are you, I implore you to listen to my warning.” Abraham explained.

“And what of you?” 

“I intend to speak to the court of what I have seen Mary do. This is a troublesome time, I will do my part. Now go, no one must know that I have warned you.” Abraham explained.

Joseph gave a curt nod, bidding his friend good luck before closing the door. John grimaced, he ran like a damned coward. Just like he did with the fire. Hmm… maybe that was the piece of the puzzle they were missing, maybe he had to alter his actions. It hurt thinking he couldn’t stop his love's pain or the others, but he had to end this curse once and for all.

As the door shut, Abraham looked back at the two, “I am bewitched.”. “You’re not bewitched.” Andrew said, this felt so strange to talk to his double. “How else can your presence be explained?” Abraham asked, “The child has conjured you to defend her, to press me into silence! Only the devil could create a demon who so resembles me.”.

“That isn’t what we’re doing Abraham, we’re trying to stop all of this. But you need to listen to what we have to say.” John stated, “I understand all of this is strange but we need to know what you will say to the court about Mary. That’s our only way to end this curse on Little Hope, on all of you. You need to speak out Abraham, tell them what the girl has done.”

“Little Hope is no longer the town I know. Revealing the truth about Mary may save our town, but it does not sit easy with me that in doing so I condemn a child.” Abraham stated.

Andrew looked at his double, conflicted as he looked down at his wrist. Was Mary really the evil of all of this? Yes, she did some weird shit but it didn’t feel right to say that, there was so much more to this.

“Putting it all on a kid isn’t right.” “Andrew.” John tried to interject but the boy kept talking. “The priest is the one driving this whole thing.”

This answer only angered Abraham, “Reverend Carver is a man guided by God, no one can doubt that.”.

Before either of them could say anything else they were brought back to reality, the house once again destroyed. John grimaced as he looked at Andrew, sighing “I hope you’re right about this Andrew. Otherwise I’m afraid I might have to meet new versions of you again.”.

The rest of them had joined up, John and Andrew catching the rest up. Taylor decided to take a bit of a rest, Daniel checking up on her and the two had a nice moment while the rest of them were planning. It was a bit nice though, as awful as this place was it seemed like a lot of them were really learning a lot about themselves and each other.

However, moments of peace did not last long here in Little Hope. Mere seconds after Daniel stood up, Taylor was pulled back by Tabitha, being dragged away. Daniel hurried after it, the others watching in horror as the two ran off, the fog blocking them off. Much to their relief the two came back after a minute, Ramona quickly hugging her best friend, relieved she was still alive. “Enough of that, we have to keep moving.” Angela stated, not comfortable that the monsters were still around.

So the group pushed forward, eventually arriving at the factory. God, this place certainly brought back some shitty memories. John was very glad he ditched manual work and decided to become a teacher. It was a pleasant change… then again maybe if he hadn’t they wouldn’t be here.

After searching the premises a bit for any clues or anything useful, John headed up the stairs with Ramona, the moment the door swung open they were pulled into another vision. “God, I am never going to get used to that!” Ramona exclaimed, not thrilled.

John looked around, not recognizing anything until he looked over, seeing Abraham being apprehended by the Marshall and that bastard Carver. “Fuck, they caught him.” John grimaced, he was starting to guess what had happened to Abraham now.

“Abraham Alastor, we have witnesses that prove you were conversing with Joseph, warning him of what the court had discussed. Betraying Little Hope by affiliating those under accusation. Do you understand the consequences of your actions?” Carver asked, staring at the other man before him.

Abraham refused to give Carver the pleasure of watching him squirm, merely glaring at the man, “I know the true evil when I see it. I do not regret my choice.”.

John wanted to help his friend, but stopped as he spotted his past self in the distance, heading away from the town. God, he was so close back then, how did he not see what happened to Abraham?

_What should he do? Should he try helping Abraham or confront himself?_

Whispering an apology to Abraham, John headed over to Joseph, or himself. “What the fuck?” Ramona groaned, following after him.

As the two approached him, Joseph looked up startled as he saw the other two. Unlike the other doubles, he knew what they were instantly, it was easy to recognize from John’s similar energy. “How is this possible?” Joseph questioned.

“You can’t run from Little Hope, it will only make things worse. I know because I ran. I escaped death only to continue living on and on, meeting their reincarnations twice.” John explained, gesturing to Ramona, “This was once Rosemary. But it’s not, this is the second time she’s been brought back. Running away somehow cursed us and their spirits to keep coming back here. And I think that’s our fault, the guilt made our own powers curse us because we ran. We ran before we could discover the truth of Little Hope.”.

“I know what Little Hope holds. Yes, I may be what they despise but this town is filthy with evil. I will not stay.”Joseph stated, grabbing his bags and running deeper into the woods.

“Wait!” John reached out but the world was already back to normal. “Fuck… I think our only chance of getting out of here is gone now…” Ramona covered her mouth, dread gripping her. God… they were going to die.

Seeing this, John gently put his arms on her shoulders to make her look up at him. “Hey, look at me. You are one of the most stubborn and hardheaded students I have ever had. You don’t give up that easily even if things are impossible, I know that despite how you act. If I’m not giving up on you guys, then I don’t want you giving up on yourselves.”.

There was a momentary silence as she processed John’s words, taking a shaky breath as she nodded. “Right, let’s get the fuck out of here.” John smiled, opening the door to let the others in.

The group made their way through the factory, Daniel and Andrew making their way to a familiar office. John frowned as he saw the name by the door, some things would never go away no matter how hard he tried.

“Woah, this is freaky.” Daniel must’ve found the picture frame, him and Andrew coming out of the office, both looking equally confused, “So, um, wanna explain what this is?”. This attracted the others over, all of them shocked by the faces in the family photo.

A deep sigh left John, shaking his head silently at the memory before taking the picture frame from Daniel, “This is the Clarke’s family. I was named James back then and I married a woman named Anne. She had my Amy’s face so I hoped this was God being forgiving for once… it was anything but that, our relationship was a messy one, and Anne had the bright idea to adopt kids since we couldn’t have any of our own… it was my fault, not hers. So we adopted a little girl named Tanya.”.

Taylor gasped softly, taking the sun pendant that Vince had given her earlier. “Then a young toddler named Anthony. A year or two later we adopted twins, Regina and Dennis.” Ramona and Dennis looked at each other surprised, “Then finally Megan.”.

“So we really have been reincarnated before. Is this the only other time?” Daniel asked.

“As far as I know, yes.” John responded.

“Hmm, he’s married two for three.” Ramona coyly remarked, giving Angela a look who scoffed in response.

Andrew stared at the picture, memories of his… dream from the bus crash coming back. “They died too… didn’t they?” He asked, startling the rest, but John gave a sad nod. 

“I was a terrible father and husband… After an argument I stormed off in a drunken rage, drove to the bar… I was gone… f-for only two minutes, and when I came back the house was on fire.” John’s voice wavered, unable to keep in the tears as the guilt poured from him, “I tried to save them, they were begging for my help… but they all died. Every single one of them, just like before. I failed them again and again. I tried to save them this time, I was so fixated on saving them that I put you all in danger.”. The man was sobbing now, dropping down his knees, holding his head as he cried hysterically, murmuring apologies over and over again.

While some of them hadn’t forgiven him for the betrayal, this reaction has struck them all hard. A few of them were still angry over his betrayal, yet he seemed so genuinely broken over this.

A man who had lost everything again and again, broken constantly. A broken man who wanted to take back what was his, but in the process only lost more and more himself. It was… they started to understand why he was like this, why he brought them there.

Surprisingly enough it was Angela that approached him, kneeling down on the floor beside him, putting a hand on his back. “John, none of what you did was alright. Bringing us here in hopes of bringing them back, it wasn’t right. But I understand why you did it, you can only lose so much before you break. So if you want to make this okay, you will stop crying right now and get up and help us find a way to end this.”.

John gave a shaky nod, letting out a trembling breathe as he stood up. “Right… Come on… I promised I would get you out of here and I intend to keep that promise.” John said.

After composing himself, John made his way down the stairs, the rest following after him. A faint noise was heard beneath them, making them all tense, god those things were here already?

“Ramona, help me with this thing.” Daniel called out, gesturing to the boxes blocking their path. The sooner these things were out of the way the better, who knew what kind of monster was around. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to take any chances with it.

“What? Need some big girl help?” She was back to her usual banter, but he knew it was just to tease him. As much of a nightmare as this was, the two of them were certainly a lot closer than they had been in the past three years.

Making her way over, Ramona began helping Daniel push the creates, the two of them struggling. While they intended to just push them aside, the old floor gave out, the boxes falling through. Daniel yelled as he fell forward, Taylor trying to catch Ramona but she fell as well.

“Oh my god! Are you two okay?!” Taylor shouted.

The two siblings groaned, sitting up, gasping as an iron spear pierced the floor behind them. “Oh my god, get out of there!” Taylor cried out.

Daniel stood up panicked, looking around when he saw the height. “Ramona, go!” He shouted, cupping his hands together.

“I didn’t just start liking you just for you to die!” Ramona shouted back, “Hey!”. Daniel ignored her, starting to hoist Ramona up, allowing John and Angela to pull her up. Once she was up, Ramona looked back down with worry, Taylor clinging to her with worry.

Daniel stumbled back just as David swung, the beast nearly getting him while he was boosting her up Andrew looked around, noticing the pipe and quickly picked it up. “Daniel jump!”

With his chance of escape there, Daniel rushed over, impaling David with his own spear. Please let him make this!!! Using the wall for a boost, Daniel jumped up, gripping the pipe. Andrew struggled to pull him up and John helped him, the two struggling to pull him up.

A growl filled the air, Daniel knew it was getting closer, looking up at Andrew “GO!!!”. 

It felt wrong, butAndrew let go of the pipe. “What are you doing?!” Taylor cried out, trying to break from Ramonas grasp. The purple hair woman grimaces seeing Daniel fighting the monster off, but she trusts him to win.

And no way did Daniel intend on dying! Gripping the pipe, Daniel swung the pipe at it enough time to give him a chance to run. All of them looked down with worry, watching Daniel vanish from sight as the monster chased after it. “Say something!” Angela shouted. “Daniel, please…!” Taylor whimpered, clinging to Ramona whimpering as there was no response.

Andrew stood back up grimacing, looking at the other two. “Come on. We have to keep going before more show up.” Andrew said, carefully crossing the side. “Sweetheart, we gotta go.” Ramona said, guiding her crying friend in front of her, all five of them eventually escaping the factory.


	12. Ending of a Generation

Not wanting to risk being attacked by another monster, the group hurried outside of the factory. Of course once they reached outside, the fog was waiting for them. “Ugh, I am so fucking done with this fog.” Ramona scowled.

“Come on, we need to find Daniel.” Taylor said, hurrying down the pathway. Andrew led the way, searching for any sign of the other boy.

“Daniel! Daniel, please answer us!” Angela called out.

After a bit of walking, the group heard someone calling out for him. “Holy shit.” Ramona gasped, running ahead with Taylor. The two made their way to the ledge, relieved to see him. “Oh my god, you're okay!” Taylor gasped, tearfully smiling.

Smirking, Ramona leaned down, pulling her step-brother up. “Good job not dying, pendejo.” Patting his back, Ramona stepped aside, allowing Taylor to run over and hug him.

Looks like things were starting to work out after all. “I’m glad you’re okay.” Andrew said, relieved that everyone was still alive. It was a relief considering everything they had been through in the past what… eight hours?

“Good, we’re all back together. Now come on, let’s go.” John said, gesturing to the group to follow him. Taylor took Daniel’s hand, following after the others, after that scare there was no way in hell she was going to let go of him any time soon.

The fog had cleared out slightly, the group following a pathway that eventually led only one way. Towards a house that had been completely burnt down. It’s black charred color matching the similar color palette of Little Hope. “Is it so hard to ask for a pink or purple?” Ramona groaned, tired of all the blue, black, and brown.

John frowned as he stared at the house, awful memories coming back to him of that night. All of them dying in the horrific fire while he was unable to do anything to help them. Looking back at the group the man swallowed heavily, he needed to make this right and save them.

“Hey, look!” Taylor pointed forward, the group spotting the strange little girl. “Come on, let’s-” As they prepared to follow the girl, Mary suddenly appeared, screaming as she grabbed onto Taylor. “Taylor!” Daniel shouted, grabbing onto her along with John and Andrew. The four looked around, recognizing the forest and they knew quickly it was another execution, Andrew gasping seeing Abraham.

Abraham struggled underneath the wooden plank, gasping as the Marshall placed another rock on him. He struggled to keep the weight off of his chest, trying to keep it from crushing him. “No one in Little Hope is safe while you still draw breath, Abraham. Betraying Little Hope by helping Joseph escape judgment under God proves you are bewitched. You must die today. You have a sheer lust to serve Satan! Betraying Little Hope by letting him run.” Carver hissed out, glaring at the boy beneath him.

“God, no, Abraham.” John gasped.

_ By saving his life, his friend tragically took his fate. It wasn’t fair. _

“I… I did not betray Little Hope…! The evil is in plain sight!” Abraham struggled to speak, coughing as the plank pressed against his chest, “I carry no sin… I’m no disciple of the devil. The true disciple… lays before your very eyes! Satan’s servant…”. As he said that last part, he glared up at the Reverend, remembering the words that the apparition has spoken to him. He knew now that those words were true, but it was too late to heed his warning.

Shaking his head, John looked at the other three, “We have to stop this!”.

Nodding, they all hurried up to the platform, struggling to lift the rocks from the platform. It did help, but it also made things look only worse for Abraham. “More stones! The devil must be crushed from within him.” Carver demanded.

Abraham managed to rasp put a breath as the four took the pressure off for a moment, looking at John, “You must-”.

Before he could finish the sentence, Marshall dropped more rocks on the platform. Abraham hacked up some blood, grunting as the pressure was becoming too much. He coughed up more blood as the pressure shattered through his ribs, piercing his lungs making them fill up with blood. A gasp left him, still struggling as sickening snaps could be hurt. The young man tried but eventually his body gave out, going slack underneath the wooden platform, his head drifting to the side as blood pooled from his mouth.

Andrew was stuck staring at the sight, not even looking away as the world returned to normal. The others looked around, still freaked by what they saw. As they were coming to, Taylor and Ramona ran over. “What happened. Tell me.” Taylor asked.

A frail breath left Andrew, looking at the two as he struggled to breathe, “We… We don’t have much time.”.

Just as he said that, a horrific beast scurried out of the woods, it’s bone breaking and reattaching together with each movement. “Oh my god!” Taylor gasped. “RUN!” Ramona shouted, all of them hurrying towards the house.

Fate had no favorites though, a yell filling the air making them look back to see the monster jump on Andrew, pulling the boy by the leg. “Andrew!” Angela called out. In a panic, Taylor slid the ritual knife that Daniel gave her earlier over to him, hoping it’d hel.

Andrew struggled to free himself, propping himself up on his elbows to grab the knife and stab the monster in the arm. This only angered it more, digging its nails into his leg as it climbed up his body wrapping tightly around his body before he could try stabbing it again, a cry of pain leaving him. 

“Oh my god, no!” Ramona shouted. 

Seeing Andrew in danger, John rushed over. “John, what are you doing?!” Angela shouted. “I’m tired of running!” John picked up the sledgehammer from the yard, swinging at the monster and knocked it off of Andrew. 

“Go!” John shouted, helping Andrew to his feet as they ran towards the house. Andrew stumbled up to his feet, running towards the house as fast as he could go. As the monster rushed after Andrew, John swung again, knocking it back once more. “How’s that feel, FUCKER?” John screamed, making sure that Andrew was in front of them as they hurried back towards the house.

He stopped once he heard a scream, looking back to see the others struggling, Angela being dragged back by her monster and Ramona being knocked down by her monster. Making sure Andrew was heading towards the door, John rushed over to help Angela. Raising the sledgehammer up high, John shouted as he hit the chain, allowing Angela to crawl away as fast as she could go.

Ramona managed to free her leg, yelling as she kicked the damned demon in the face. Pulling her leg up again, she kicked it again until it let her go. Daniel hurried over, helping Ramona to her feet and they rushed to the door.

“Get that door open!” Ramona shouted, watching Daniel kick it open and they all followed in. Andrew ran in after John, yelling as the demon grabbed him by the ankle, making him fall forward on the stairs. Daniel and Taylor rushed to his side, struggling to pull him free as the monster pulled at his leg. With a strong tug the monster pulled him from their grasp, pulling Andrew down the stairs and climbed on top of him.

Andrew gasped, struggling against it’s tight grip, screaming in pain hearing something snap. John rushed back outside, still baring the sledgehammer and knocked it off of him. “Get inside!” John shouted, getting ready to attack if needed as Andrew stumbled to his feet and ran inside.

Once everyone was inside, John slammed the door shut, propping the sledgehammer against it and used his body to brace the door. “We have to get out of here, now!” Taylor shouted.

“All of you go! I can hold this back!” John shouted.

“No, we aren’t leaving you!” Angela exclaimed.

The monster beat against the door a while longer before eventually stopping, a relieved sigh leaving John as he got off of the door. “I think it’s gone.” John sighed in relief, but that relief instantly fated as he heard a whimper, turning around as his eyes widened.

Andrew let out a strangled whimper, his hand pressed firmly into his side as blood seeped through his gray jacket, staining it and his hands red. Through the faint part in his hands they could see that in the fight with his demon the knife had lodged itself into his side, digging deeper in when it grabbed him again. Andrew looked up at them with a shaky whimper before his legs gave out, dropping to the ground.

“Andrew!” John shouted, hurrying over to Andrew’s side, cautiously holding the boy.

“No, oh god.” Taylor whimpered, covering her mouth.

“There’s gotta be something you can do, isn’t there?!” Daniel pleaded, all of them going over worried, terrified for Andrew. All of them had grown so close during the nightmare, seeing him hurt and… and at risk of dying hurt all of them. “Can’t you heal him or something?!” Daniel shouted hysterically, his voice shaking.

John took a shaky breath, looking down at the paling boy in his arms. “I… I can.” As he said this, a shriek was heard from outside, making them all tense up.

_ Oh god, those things really weren’t going to let up were they..?! _

Hearing the shrieks from outside, Daniel looked at the door with worry, but that’s when the sight of the sledgehammer caught his attention. Standing up, Daniel walked over to the door and picked it up. “Daniel?” Taylor asked. 

Ramona looked at her step-brother, knowing what he was thinking and took the gun from Andrew’s back pocket, checking to see how many bullets were left. Fuck, only two bullets. Wonder if her taser would do anything to those things. “What are you doing?” Taylor stood up, looking at the two worried.

“We’ll keep those things back. You help Andrew and find that kid, this has to be where she was leading up.” Daniel explained.

“What? No! You go back out there and you’ll die!” Taylor pleaded.

“He won’t die, not when he’s got his badass step-sister to save him.” Ramona stood beside Daniel, giving him a nod and a smile.

Taylor’s eyes widened, looking at the two in terror, “No, you can’t be serious..! I can’t lose you..! Either of you!”.

“I won’t die, not when I have you waiting for me. But we have to do this, John needs time to save Andrew… to end this. We’ll give you all the time you need.” Daniel explained, John mouthing a thank you as he carefully helped Andrew to his feet, “So do your thing. We won’t let any of those things inside.”.

Sniffling, Taylor hugged the two tightly, whimpering, “Please.. Please don’t die.”.

Daniel let her hang on for a moment before pulling away, kissing her. “We’re going to come back.” And with that the two siblings headed outside the house, seeing the five monsters making their way over. “Daniel… If we do die, I love you.” Ramona softly said, lifting the gun up. “Te quiero.” Daniel said, making Ramona chuckle a bit, guess he did know some Spanish. With a yell, the two rushed forward, Daniel swinging the sledgehammer at his monster and Ramona shooting at Tabitha

Taylor sniffled as she watched from the window, biting her lip. “We need to get this right, they can only fight those things so long.” John said, about to sit Andrew on the couch when he noticed something head up the stairs. 

“Andrew, I need you to hold on a little longer.” John whispered, letting Andrew lean on him as they headed up the stairs. The boy gave out a weak whine, keeping a hand pressed firmly against his side. “Andrew, come on, you have to hold on. Don’t you want to see Becca again?” John asked, getting a weak cough as a response.

They made it up to the top of the stairs, John grimacing at the sights in front of him. God, this was a lifetime ago. Another series of lives lost because he ran from his issues again. “Professor… I don’t think… I don’t think I can keep going.” Andrew rasped, his breathing going weaker.

“No, Andrew we are going to make it!” John stated, heading into one of the burnt rooms. Everything had been burnt away in the house fire, except a vinyl. Just as he reached for it, he was startled as his past self grabbed onto him, pulling them both into another vision.

John gasped as he looked around, realizing they were on the top floor of the courthouse. As a result of the scare, John was on his knees gasping, Andrew laying his head against his chest weakly, his body leaned against him. Thankful John was still breathing, he looked up to see his past self staring down at the court, listening to them talk. Oh god… they did it, they really changed it.

“John?” Angela called out, realizing the two had vanished. The woman looked around, gasping in terror as she heard something crawling around, “John?”. As Angela rounded the corner, she screamed as a chain shot forward, wrapping around her legs and pulled her towards the ground. 

Stepping back to ensure that the court did not see him, Joseph looked at John. God, now he really knows how the others felt. “Fine, I have listened to you to stay, but now look what it has done. Trapped me amongst the crowd fighting. Why should I care of this child? As our dear Amy spoke her final breaths, she accused Mary.” Joseph stated.

“I get it, I do! But Mary is innocent, Carver is the one to blame for all of this.” John explained, tensing as Andrew weakly gripped his hand.

“Professor...it’s cold…” Andrew weakly whispered, his other hand sliding off of his injury as he took weak breaths.

Taylor tensed up hearing Angela scream, gasping in horror at the sight of her monster sneaking in. Oh god! “John! Andrew-!” Taylor tried running up stairs but a tongue wrapped around her throat, choking her and pulling her back.

“Andrew, I need you to stay with me.” John pleaded, looking up to his past self, “I need you to believe me! Carver is the true evil, if you accuse Mary it will do nothing. You need to speak up against the court about the truth. If you don’t, you will go through everything I did..! Cursed to keep living on and on, watching them die again and again! If you run, you will live! But goddamnit, living is a curse if we have to watch the ones we love die again and again!”.

Daniel screamed in pain as the spear dug through the side of his ledge, dropping to the ground gasping. Ramona’s eyes widened as he dropped to the ground, raising the gun only for it to click much to her horror. The woman tried running forward but was grabbed from behind, screaming as a scorching hand pressed against her collar bone. Using the sledgehammer, Daniel struggled to get the demon off of him, screaming as he was impaled in the hand.

“They will all die again if you do this! If you don’t do this, we will have to go through it again and again. Amy, Tabitha, Rosemary, David, Abraham, all of them will have died for nothing!” John shouted, looking down at Andrew, gripping his hand pleading, “Revenge will give you nothing… but more pain! More agony! More death!”.

Angela screamed as she was wrapped up tightly, wiggling helplessly in her chains as Amy crawled closed to her. Taylor struggled to free herself, gasping aloud as she looked out the boarded up window, watching the siblings struggling, tears bubbling down her cheeks.

“You need to… let what Mary did go. Carver is the one that needs to be stopped.” John stated. “John… tell my…” Andrew weakly coughed, John shaking his head in denial. “I won’t say anything, you will! You hear me?!” John begged, failing to hold back his tears.

Staring at his future self, Joseph thought for a moment before stepping forward, “STOP!!!”. John looked up with a gasp, staring at his past self.

“Joseph, you dare return to this court?!” Carver snapped out.

Joseph ignored him, making his way down the stairs. “Yes, I ran after being accused, only because I knew the truth you buried. I no longer run though, I have come to tell the court the truth. Reverend Carver is the evil that plagues Little Hope!” Joseph exclaimed.

“You show and now you accuse me?!” Carver scowled.

Making his way to the bottom of the stairs, Joseph approached the judge, whispering something to him. As Joseph told him what he knew, a look of stunned horror crossed the judge’s face, slowly turning to the Reverend. “What I have just learned sickens me to my core. There are serious questions which must be asked of you.” Wyman snatched Carver’s bible from him, flipping through it to see the markings on it. “How can a ‘man of God’ conduct himself in such a way? Mary, your suffering is at an end. You are free to leave.”

John let out a shaky breath as he heard this, listening to the crowd turning against Carver. Carver tried claiming innocence but it did nothing, the man being dragged out by Wyman. 

A sigh left John, seeing the world around them changing back to what it once was. “It’s over… It’s over, Andrew.” John sighed. However, he got no response, looking down in horror as Andrew laid limp in his arms, his eyes closed, his chest no longer rising. “Andrew..? Andrew? Andrew?!” John screamed, shaking the boy but got no response, “Andrew! Andrew, wake up! Please, wake up! WAKE UP!”.

An unbearable silence filled the room, John sobbing as he held Andrew close. “No! Please, wake up! You have to wake up, son! They need you, damnit, I need you! Your family needs you, so wake up!” John wept, getting no response from the still boys body, “God, wake up please…! Please, wake up, son…! Wake up, son! You gotta wake up!”. No matter how much John begged, there wasn’t a single movement, the man weeping as he held onto Andrew’s still body.

Hearing someone come up the stairs, John whimpered, shaking his head, “Angela… I tried, I-”. 

John stopped, looking up to see none other than his beloved Amy. Amy gave a soft smile, kneeling down before him, taking John’s hand. “You have to let go of us… Move on.” As she said this, he could see the spirits of everyone appear. Tabitha, Rosemary, David, Abraham, Anne, Regina, Tanya, Dennis, Anthony, even Megan, who held Anthony’s hand.

A shaky whimper left John, looking at all of them. “You have to let go. You did it, you saved us... You did what you were meant to do, so move on.” Amy softly said, holding John’s cheek with one hand and using her other hand to guide John’s hand over Andrew’s wound. 

The moment it touched, a softly golden glow came from it. As the wound began to fade, so did the spirits, all vanishing one by one. Anne looked at her children, guiding them all to follow her as she vanished in a golden haze. Dennis looked at Tanya and Regina, the three of them following after her. Anthony picked up Megan, the small girl waving goodbye as the two vanished in a golden haze their mother and siblings. A soft giggle filled the air, Tabitha and David looking as Mary’s spirit rushe to join them, leaping in her older brother’s arms. David gasped, hugging her tightly, Tabitha joining in. The three siblings embraced tightly before fading as well. Abraham watched them go, giving John a goodbye nod before fading as well.

Soon enough Rosemary joined Amy’s side, giving John a sad smile before looking at her aunt. Amy smiled at John one last time, standing up to hold Rosemary’s hands, tearfully whispering a goodbye as they both faded away.

John tearfully smiled as they all vanished, gasping as Andrew began coughing, “Andrew!”. Being careful if he was still hurting, John hugged the boy gasping, holding him tightly. “J-John…?’ Andrew gasped, shocked to still be alive.

Holding onto the boy tightly, John eventually let go, smiling at Andrew. “It’s over… It’s really over.” He gave a weak chuckle, looking behind him as the sunrise could be seen through the window. “Come on.” Carefully helping him to his feet, the two headed downstairs.

Much to their relief, the other four were waiting downstairs for them, looking a little dirtier and more injured… but alive. “It’s over.” John smiled, all of them gasping. Ramona turned, taking a shaky breath as she hugged Daniel, laughing in pure joy. Once Ramona had stepped back, Taylor flung herself at Daniel, kissing him repeatedly before hugging him tightly.

“You did it. You did it, John.” Andrew looked at John, smiling softly. Before John could stop him, Andrew approached the man hugging him. His shock only grew as everyone joined in on the hug, all tightly embracing.

Eventually Angela got sick of the group hug, pulling away, making John laugh a bit. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I, for one, am tired of living in the past.” John stated, smiling as he led the group out of the house.

_ God, it was really over. _

All six of them exited the house, Taylor gasping seeing a familiar face limping towards the house. “Vince!” She beamed, hurrying over, “You made it!”.

“Heh, I didn’t go through the trenches just to die now.” Vince stated, looking back at the others making their way over, “So… It’s really over?”.

“Yeah… it’s over.” Taylor smiled, before checking her pockets to take out the charm. Seeing this, Vince shook his head, “No. You keep it. A sign that something went right through all of this hell. Now, ‘bout half a mile or so there’s a diner with a working phone. You call for help and you leave this place. All it’s ever done is hurt you.”.

The idea of him being here… alone didn’t feel right. “Well… do you visit that diner often? We could come visit, check up on you so you aren’t alone. Does every Sunday work for you?” Taylor asked, getting an amused looked from the others.

A soft chuckled left Vince, the man nodding, “Sunday’s then. Now go.”.

With that Vince left, allowing them to continue down the road until they finally saw the diner. The sky was beautifully lit, all of them relieved to finally see the sun again. “How fucking great does this feel!” Taylor grinned, swirling to bask in the sun a bit.

“It’d feel nicer if one-fifth of my skin wasn’t singed.” Ramona stated, getting a playful elbow from Daniel, “Okay, calm down cowboy.”.

“I will be much happier after a shower.” Angela gagged, the smell was foul.

Daniel walked beside Taylor, smiling at her, “What’s the deal now, T?”.

“I don’t know ‘D’ but stick around. Let’s see what happens.” Taylor playfully teased, taking Daniel’s hand as they walked over to the diner.

A chuckle left Ramona as she watched, looking at Andrew with a smirk, “Alright, well now that you survived literal hell and came back from the dead, for what, the third time? We need to find you a girlfriend pronto.”. Andrew rolled his eyes, but gave a small smile to her.

John stopped in the back of the group, sighing to himself before looking at them all, “I am so sorry for what I made you all go through. What I did to all of you wasn’t fair. I was so consumed… with anger and wanting to stop what happened, I didn’t see what I had before me. And because of that, all of you almost died. If you want me gone… I get it.”.

The five of them looked at each other for a moment, pondering his words before Taylor spoke. “You want to start making it up, we get 100% on our story project. We got more than enough passion for it.” Taylor stated.

“And you’re buying breakfast, I’m starved.” Daniel said.

Angela sighed, folding her arms over her chest, “I am still bitter about what happened, but you are a good teacher. That and you did save my life more than once.”.

Andrew stared at the other man for a moment before smiling at him. Yes, the heartbreak did hurt, but he understood why John did it. And now he knew he really did care about them all. “I think you should stick around, it seems the six of us are an unbreakable group.” Andrew said.

“Too soon.” Ramona groaned.

“Heh, alright. Breakfast is on me, whatever you want. After we get some food in our bellies, I’ll call the school.” John stated. Ramona smirked, hurrying inside with Taylor and Daniel behind her. Andrew followed after them at a slower pace, waiting a bit for John and Angela.

Angela walked beside John as they headed towards the dinner, chuckling a bit, “Alright, fine. We can make this work. But if you call me Amy or whoever, there will be some serious consequences.”.

John chuckled at her, smiling, “Don’t worry, Angela. I’ve moved on.”.

“Right.” Angela said as they walked in, looking back at him with a small smile, “You got a new gray hair.”.

As she said this, John stopped to look at his reflection, and what she said was true. A single gray hair. He hadn’t gotten one in the last 300 years. Seeing this made him smile, looking as the five took a seat at a booth. It was over… it was finally over.


End file.
